Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust
by Guerillaz
Summary: Huey has been through a tough life. Dead parents, strained relations, and a girlfriend who left him for the west coast were among his problems. He has the chance to come to terms with his friends, but can he bear to relive the memories that haunt him?
1. The Nightmare

Hey there! This is my first story about the Boondocks. So if you could review this story with your insights, that would be very helpful so you can tell me if anything is wrong with the plot, spelling or other technicalities. Just give me your thoughts and I'll be happy to keep those in mind. :)

Anyways, hope you enjoy!

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The Nightmare

A bone-chilling arctic air descended upon Washington, DC on a melancholy February morning. It had snowed the night before, enough to paralyze any activity in the District…every activity but one. The weather didn't stop politics from raging within the Capitol. It never did. The democratic process was slow and tedious, yet it is essential lest we let the United States waste away.

The 50th President of the United States solemnly stared at the wintry landscape from his stateroom in the White House, apprehensive of what the Senators were discussing. The only light glowing in his room was the one emanating from the television, tuned in to C-SPAN.

_Impeachment was imminent._ The President thought about that statement for the past several hours. _Well, let that be. I'm not going down without a fight_. The President had a gun hidden within his suit. He was irrational. Delusional. The years of hard work and his lifetime of agony finally caught up to him.

Finally, he broke the silence. "I want you to know that you've been a good Vice President," the afro-wearing President said. His Vice President stared at him incredulously. And why not? His boss hasn't said anything positive about everything since time immemorial.

"I just want to let you know that you will never see me again after this."

Silence.

After what seemed like another eternity, his Vice President broke the deathly silence.

"They're voting."

The words never seemed to register in the President's brain. It always seemed that way for the past six months. His biggest critics half-joked it was the big hair on the President's head that would never get cut to blame.

Finally, the President walked over to the television. To a child, C-SPAN was uninteresting. Indeed, most adults would claim the same. All it ever showed was a bunch of rich bastards spending taxpayer money as if it grew on trees.

Yet on this day, at this hour, at this exact moment, it was nothing like that from the President's perspective.

"This is for the vote concerning the 50th President's Impeachment. After all arguments have been made, all witnesses standing, and all evidence brought before the Senate, the trial is now closed. Voting will take place via electronic device. There is an hour time limit."

The Chief Justice seemed bored with his words - monotone, to say the least. It seemed as if he was unconcerned with the fate of the President.

At first, not one senator voted in the first five minutes. It always seemed Senators were either lollygagging around or they were just plain indecisive.

It was most likely the former, since everybody knew it would almost come to a unanimous decision.

The President reached into his suit. He felt the cold steel of his handgun and nervously fiddled around with it.

60 minutes…50 minutes…40 minutes…30 minutes…20 minutes…

The President became detached to the situation. It was like watching a movie of himself staring…waiting for an absolution that would never come. Vindication for the President was the last thing every citizen in the United States wanted.

Finally, more senators voted within the final five minutes. A flood of senators voted for conviction, and only a select few would dare vote to acquit.

_85 to 4._

It was a result that was probably incredulous to look at, because of all the Presidents who ever faced impeachment, not one has ever been convicted. But one must also take into consideration how he disenchanted most of his allies; conviction was possible, if not inevitable. Eleven senators didn't even bother voting due to the inescapable fate.

"Congratulations, you are now the 51st President of these United States."

The Vice President stared at his boss. He stared into his unrevealing eyes. Finally, the President showed emotion…something that has not happened since his Inauguration day. Sorrow crept into every corner of his once featureless face. The Vice President averted his gaze. He could not bear to see his boss weep.

Silently, the door to the stateroom opened. White House officials accompanied with the Metropolitan Police Force flooded into the room.

"Mr. President, we will escort you out of the White House. By orders of the Chief Justice of the United States, it is our duty to evict you."

The President said nothing, did nothing, and seemed to hear nothing. His Vice President tapped his shoulder in vain attempt to get his attention. After a few tense moments, the President decided to act.

In one swift move, he withdrew his gun from his suit and shot the first person he saw as he spun around with reflexes he thought he lost decades ago.

A bloody battle ensued.

The police force was taken by surprise; of all the people who would fight back and resist arrest, it just _had_ to be the President of the United States. In an instant, the powder keg of the grave situation exploded in the stateroom's atmosphere and the officers were shouting orders to _"Fire at will! Fire, damn you! Kill him!"_ The President was outnumbered roughly fifty guns to one; his Vice President having fled the scene ran for his life as the Secret Service tore him away from his boss, dragging him to safety. Each of the fifty guns pointed at the President were firing tens of bullets per second, each of the loud gunshots deafening enough to be heard throughout the White House and drown out the orders being shouted.

"_It's not my fault! I had no part in this scandal!"_ The President thought. Even if he shouted this fact in front of national television, his words would fall on deaf ears.

As a hail of bullets flew towards the President, he dove behind a thick couch. Porcelain figurines shattered, windows broke, and the walls were splattered with lead. As warfare raged in the room, the President thought about his life. He thought about his parents who died right before his eyes. He thought about his friends, who all deserted him in a Greek tragedy. He thought about the only love he knew…and wondered why it was him whom destiny chose to save…

The President stood up and into the line of fire and shot several bullets at his evictors. A police officer fired a bullet at the precise moment he saw the President. Time became distorted. It seemed like the bullet slowly glided its way through the air. The President's mind raced with millions of thoughts. It finally settled on one thing and it flashed memories before the President's eyes.

_The bullet was 50 feet away_. It seems that death is inevitable.

He remembered the death of both his parents when he was just a few days from turning 10 years old. He remembered being brought to school by his father one day with a smile on his face, without a worry in the world. He returned from school to see his parents lying in the living room. The walls were splattered with maroon. Knives and bullet cases were everywhere. He went through so many traumas just looking at the corpses of his parents, he thought…no, _he knew_ that he would never smile in his natural-born life again.

_And he stuck to that promise._

A precocious mind was the result. He would gain extensive knowledge about the world around him, but with this knowledge came a feeling of emptiness.

_The bullet was 40 feet away._

He remembered his Granddad. Granddad took him in along with his 8-year-old brother with seemingly open arms. The inheritance that him and his brother would receive from the life insurance company was spent by Granddad on a house in The Boondocks. Unfortunately, the perceived stability was ephemeral. His Granddad developed cancer six years later and would not be detected until another two years. By that time, the cancer had metastasized into every tissue of Granddad's body. His brother on the other hand, was set on becoming a gangsta. Finally, his brother was brought in by a Baltimore based gang, and immediately trouble ensued. It was just a matter of time until he was shot dead. His prediction unfortunately came true. He always cursed at having the gift of accurately predicting the misfortunes of others around him. His brother died within days of his granddad's death, exactly two days apart from each other.

The day sandwiched between his brother's and his granddad's death was his 18th birthday.

_The bullet was 30 feet away._

The President couldn't get out of the way. He was paralyzed on the spot. Instead, his mind continued to race.

He could see his childhood best friend, Caesar. The two of them were inseparable. It seemed like they could talk about anything and still be fine with it. Except when Caesar would insult his dead mother with yo-mama jokes did he fall silent. Unfortunately, Caesar also had clandestine problems as well. It just seemed like he could perfectly hide it and seem fine to anyone. Caesar's parents were divorced at the age of ten. Since then, his mother could no longer support Caesar since she was a stay-at-home mom. With no income from a real job, Caesar's mother became bankrupt. Caesar would constantly blame their misfortunes on himself, and felt as though his mother rejected him as her son. Finally, when Caesar turned 16, he ran away from home and was never seen again. He left his best friend a note explaining his situation concisely, and sullenly told him he would "never see you again. Sorry." True to his word, the President hasn't seen him in decades. The President never knew of the problems that led to his best friend running away until two years ago. He would lament on the outcome…

_The bullet was 20 feet away._

The President remembered his first girlfriend. Jazmine…a name that just emanated with cheeriness, he thought. Jazmine's amazing ability to remain optimistic in the most pessimistic of times obviously contradicted with his constantly serious personality. Any depressed person that got near her would immediately turn happy for some reason. In fact, he thought his girlfriend _was_ _the cure_ for depression. Jazmine and his' relationship was overall a tepid one. They would occasionally get into petty arguments due to the stark contrast of their personalities. However, as the months passed, these arguments would escalate into serious problems. This was especially problematic for Jazmine, who also had familial issues. Just like Caesar before her, Jazmine felt she was unwanted by her parents. Unlike Caesar, this was especially true in her case. Caesar's mother loved him; Jazmine's parents wanted to get rid of her. Why they wanted to get rid of her was the coldest excuse anybody could give on anyone's standards. And get rid of her they did. As Jazmine's parents divorced, the judge awarded custody of Jazmine to her aunt in California when neither parent would claim custody.

On the eve of moving to California, Jazmine set up a date with him. This was also the eve of his 18th birthday. Jazmine intended to tell her boyfriend that she would be moving and it the possibility of them ever seeing them again was slim. She couldn't help but fall into depression just thinking about it. He agreed to going on a date with her, but cruel fate decided to play with adolescent minds. Granddad died on the eve of her boyfriend's birthday, and was rushed to the hospital. Her boyfriend was shattered by the unforeseen tragedy that ensued. He had completely forgotten about the date and descended into agony as his Granddad's electrocardiogram flatlined. Jazmine, who felt as though she was stood up, was infuriated when her boyfriend finally showed up several hours late. Jazmine raised hell for a good half hour. The floodgates opened in her eyes, the thunderstorm brewing in her heart, and a hurricane made landfall on her boyfriend. Jazmine was already defeated by her parents' heartless decision. She just couldn't grasp why she was a magnet for calamitous events. Jazmine never gave him a chance to explain. Finally, after the storm inside her rained itself out and dissipated, she broke up with him. "I'm never going to see him again anyway. Why the hell should I not break up with him right now?" she reasoned. On the other hand, her boyfriend was struck with two unfortunate events in one day. Already depressed over his Granddad's death, his anguish was compounded by the break-up. It's strange how the universe decides just the perfect time to just pile the heavy boulders onto you even when you are in the most vulnerable state of mind. Maybe there are forces in this universe that we don't understand…

_The bullet was 10 feet away._

The President's mind continued to race with haunting memories. Woodcrest, which seemed like a calm and sleepy town, evolved into a ghost town filled with haunting phantoms in his memory once the Greek tragedy had fully transpired. He could vaguely remember Hiro Otomo's face, yet he still remembered his near tragedy. Hiro Otomo came from a high-middle class Asian family who followed the Asian tradition of being perfectionists. His parents demanded Hiro to do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted without question. This especially meant no socializing with friends, no form of any entertainment, and studying until his grades were straight A's. His parents already determined his destiny to become a doctor, while Hiro actually wanted to become a DJ. At one point, Hiro tried to reveal his aspirations to his parents, only for them to be dishonored and struck down in a flash. The only encouragement went something like this "Go ahead and become DJ. You have bad rife. You want good rife, you become doctor."

Hiro survived, but his dignity was hopelessly annihilated on that fateful day. Hiro often questioned the fact that he had decent grades (enough to get admitted into Princeton) yet he could not be happy from them. What was the use for having good grades anyway? His outlook on life took a toll as his parents refused to support his aspirations. At the age of 17, Hiro was finally admitted into Princeton for Pre-Med a year earlier than most students his age. At that point, he could care less about where his life was going… His parents hated him, he hated him, and nobody cared whether he existed or not.

One day, Hiro decided to skip class and drive back to Woodcrest. He casually walked into his house and found some strong rope in his garage. Hiro tied a noose, walked up to his room and hung the noose in his closet…

He remembered visiting Hiro at that precise moment. It seemed like a divine intervention. He couldn't describe the feeling of apprehensiveness, so he just _had_ to visit his Asian friend. He rang the doorbell, and Mr. Otomo opened the door.

"Ah, It Hiro's big-haired, Black friend. What you want?"

Without saying a word, he remembered hastily barging into the house and racing up the stairs and towards Hiro's room.

He got there in the nick of time. What he saw would haunt him for the rest of his life. A rope securely strapped to the roof of the closet was tied around Hiro's neck as a noose. He has never witnessed a suicide in person, and today was not the time to witness one now. Hiro saw his afro-headed blitz into his room. He clearly remembered Hiro asking what he was doing there.

"Listen to me, you don't want to end your life!"

Thus sparked an altercation. Hiro said something across the lines like "My life? You mean the train wreck of what has become of my life? You don't know what I've been through!"

Somehow, he coaxed Hiro to terminate his suicide attempt after a half-hour of discussing. It was one highlight in his life that stood out prominently against an ocean of misfortunes. In retrospect, the President was proud he saved a life…another friend he potentially lost, yet he stopped fate from eliminating another one of his close friends. During the following days, Hiro finally told him his complications with his parents. He listened intently, and offered Hiro some of his counseling. _I actually halted the death of my friend._ His achievement garnered encouragement, a scarcity considering how much he's been through.

All in all, the President saw his entire family leave him spiritually before the age of 20. He developed a strong guiding sense of independence from that experience. He saw his close circle of friends degenerate as one-by-one they left him for other cities, mostly due to the dysfunctional relationships they've encountered in Woodcrest. No clues were left for him concerning the whereabouts of Jazmine, Cindy, Caesar, and eventually Hiro as well.

He remembers his presidential campaign, which gave him the opportunity to reconnect with his surviving friends. The contingency to finally come to terms with most of them was given to him, exchanging their apologies with him as he campaigned in their city. They updated each other, laughed, cried, and enjoyed each other's company. Essentially, it was a momentous occasion once he reunited with his friends. In one case, it was him who would offer his condolences as one of his friends passed away in the process of running away from Woodcrest. In another, he learned the hard way how much he still meant to one of them…

_Sacrifices were never meant to be easy to endure…_

Woodcrest haunted the President's memories. He and his close circle of friends have been through so many afflictions. Most still survived, yet his experiences left him with a deep emotional wound - one that when it seemed to close up and heal, it would split right open afresh. As he looked back on his life, he reminisced the drawbacks and the lessons that were garnered from them. He looked back on the propitious experiences and couldn't help it for being delighted for his achievements. He finally accepted what had transpired in his lifetime. During his presidency, the United States found allies in Russia, China, Iran and Iraq…but if he gained so many unlikely allies, _why does it always seem like it was me against the world_?

_Finally, the bullet pierced his chest_.

A stinging pain erupted in his heart, and the last thing he saw was a flash of maroon. The room gradually darkened until he saw nothing. The sound of bullets being fired softened until he was deaf. He was alone. The feelings of dread and apprehension were replaced with peace and tranquility. The placidity of this state of mind demarcated the end of everything. The universe that he perceived has passed away, yet the perception of the universe from everybody else will continue. The 50th President of the United States ceased to exist. All 8.5 billion souls on this planet will continue living.

"_I'm not afraid of death. I've come to terms with my life."_

_

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So what do you think so far? I'm about to put chapter two up soon so that this prologue can be accompanied with something more related. Make sure you review! And thanks for your thoughts, they're GREATLY appreciated. =]

-Ian


	2. The Return to Chicago

The Return to Chicago

_Present Day_

Huey Freeman woke up from what seemed like a vivid, prophetic nightmare. Cold sweat ran down his face and left his shirt damp. Sitting up, he looked around the room, performing some sort of reconnaissance while apprehensively expecting something to go awry.

The ghastly gunshots still rang in Huey's head, a remnant of his perturbing nightmare. The evictors, the Senators, the trial…

The more he thought about it, more cold sweat poured down his face.

He got out of bed and looked fixedly through his open window. It was a sunny yet cool March morning. Huey always kept his window open at night during the Spring and Autumn months, seemingly disregarding his security for comfort.

It always brought a therapeutic relief when one stares through a window and into a beautiful landscape. In the distance, hills rolled with few large oak trees on the apexes, a long grassy savannah covered the ground and a few blooming flowers popped up sporadically.

Pondering about himself, reaching into his inner thoughts, Huey would perform this ritual every morning.

At the relatively burgeoning age of 39, Huey Freeman became the 2nd Youngest Mayor in the history of Baltimore. His height has significantly augmented compared to his ten-year old self back in 1999. His facial hair has always been a nuisance to him. Considering he has to look professional in public office, on a regular day he'd have to shave thrice: one in the morning, in the afternoon, and one at night, like clockwork. The only thing kept constant during the past twenty-nine years was Huey's large Afro hair and his disposition. Huey retained the same radical, skeptical personality. His austere demeanor was often interpreted as a no-bullshit, no-nonsense work ethic, and was often praised for it.

Huey's cell phone interrupted his meditation.

"_What_?"

"Your poll numbers are in."

Aside from being a 39-year-old Mayor, Huey was running for the United States Senate.

Huey sighed, "Who's leading?"

"So far, Charlie LeMieux has a slim lead on you."

Damn. Huey was not in the mood for this.

"But if we could launch a campaign in the swing cities and eventually win them, I think you have a chance at winning the Senate."

The one thing Huey was good at was public speaking. He could create a charismatic aura around him and garner attention. Huey's definition of "campaign" was not your typical mud-slinging political advertisements you would mute on the television. Rather, he would speak in public areas, go door to door, and tried to be personal. By doing that, Huey seemed more in touch with his supporters. In reality, considering he did not belong to either the Democratic or Republican parties, this actually was the only way to connect with the electorate.

"In what swing cities do I have my best chance at winning?"

"So far, we have College Park, Annapolis, Columbia and Woodcrest as toss-ups."

One of the cities mentioned struck sensitive emotions from within Huey. Despite living a good 30 minutes away from it, Huey swore to never visit Woodcrest again. The phantoms of his haunting memories reside in that godforsaken town; too many things have gone awry during his stay as an adolescent.

"Do I have to campaign in all four cities?"

"At this point, it is _imperative_ that you campaign in all four."

Huey tore his eyes away from the tranquilizing landscape and stared intently into his phone for a few tense moments.

"Okay, fine."

And with that, Huey hung the phone up. Could he possibly bear to revisit a history he so duly tried to run away from once he left Woodcrest?

Apprehension filled every corner of his conscience. He just had a feeling he would rather die a thousand deaths than release the ghosts pent up in his mind - ghosts that have been locked up for nineteen years…ghosts that are just waiting for the perfect opportunity to return screaming with a vengeance.

Huey's cell phone rang once again, rescuing him from digging up the memories he buried and forgot about two decades ago.

"Hello?"

"Hey! Huey, this is Buckner Ogden, Mayor of Chicago!" Buckner's boisterous voice nearly made Huey hit his head against the roof above him.

"Hi, Mayor Ogden."

"So Huey, I realized that this Senate candidate running in Maryland is a native of Chicago. Said candidate – that would be you – should come over here and meet the Mayor of Chicago before you go on the campaign trail!"

Huey stared at his phone as if it was speaking in a foreign language. How somebody could refer to anyone in the third person and get away with being elected as mayor of the third largest city in the United States escaped Huey's ethical standards.

"Sure, I guess."

"Sweet! Now I would love to have you over on the weekend so we can discuss things over mayor-to-mayor. See you Friday!"

Huey snapped his phone shut, looking at the calendar on his table. Friday was tomorrow, and he didn't have anything planned except a ribbon cutting ceremony. Eh, he could always assign those things to his deputy mayor anyway.

Chicago was Huey's hometown for the first ten years he walked on this Earth. It was probably the only time in his life where stability and tranquility ruled his lifestyle. He knew friends who thought like him, always planning a revolution against the establishment. It was the only real home Huey would ever know. Yet that harmonious lifestyle would come crashing down days before his tenth birthday, and was hastily relocated to Woodcrest, sans two very important people whom he cared the most in his life…

"Huey! It is an honor to meet you!"

It was Friday, and Huey was in Chicago as promised. A few of his advisors followed him to Chicago on a private plane. As Huey emerged from the plane, Mayor Ogden noisily welcomed him to Chicago.

"The Mayor of Baltimore and the Mayor of Chicago under one roof! This is going to be the best political tag team there is!"

Huey stared at Buckner Ogden with eyes that revealed no emotion, his face etched with the permanent scowl that became his default expression since time immemorial. Buckner Ogden wasn't fazed by this expression – he only seemed more _encouraged _to entertain the "unentertainable".

Buckner Ogden was a portly Black man, which was surprising since no Black boys were ever named "Buckner" by their mothers. Compared to Huey, he fell a foot short from Huey's chin; never mind the fact that Huey was six feet, nine inches measured from toe to top-of-afro. But where Buckner lacked in vertical measurement, he made up in _horizontal_ measurement, weighing in at 250 pounds…morbidly obese possibly due to the addictive Chicago pizza at the classic pizzerias around town. This would make any health professional want to stick their finger down their throat.

"So Huey, would you like to have a little bit of pizza before we head off?"

Huey's hypothesis for Mayor Ogden's obesity was confirmed instantly with that one sentence.

"Sure, Mayor –"

"Please, call me Buckner. Mayor Ogden was my father." Buckner chortled.

Huey, trying to hold back the usual irritation building inside him, retorted "Sure, Buckner."

"That's the Chicagoan spirit!"

Huey, Buckner and their assistants got into a private limo and drove off to a pizzeria to have a nice lunch. The drive through downtown reminded Huey of his early childhood days, where his father would bring him and Riley to Lincoln Park and play a little bit of football with other neighbors.

"Why the long face, buddy?"

Huey snapped out of his thoughts and back to reality. He realized his face was etched with a little bit of emotion on it, which usually happens once in a blue moon.

"Huh? Oh, I guess I'm just a little bit nostalgic."

"Ah. You can always take a Chicagoan out of Chicago, but you can't take the Chicago out of a Chicagoan."

Huey pondered on that statement for the rest of the drive, finishing his train of thoughts about his parents, who were probably the only people he ever seemed close with.

"Mm, you know…this pizza…is the best pizza in Chicago," Buckner smacked his lips between words. Huey looked on as he ate his Veggie Lover's pizza, eyeing Buckner with disgust as bits and pieces of food showered from Bucker's mouth. "So Huey," Buckner swallowed, then taking another wolfing bite of his slice of pizza "Why I brought you here today is that you're about to jump into a game where the number one rule is being unfair. You see, politics does not have any referees. If you just stand there and have your ass handed to you, then you have no place in the Senate."

Huey's perception of Buckner immediately changed. He listened intently to what Buckner was saying.

"So, Huey. You're running as an Independent candidate?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Okay Huey, let me tell you one thing. There are two types of politicians in Washington: the punks (otherwise known as the Democrats), and the jackasses (otherwise known as the Republicans). You see, the typical punk will let the jackasses step all over them, while the typical jackass will raise hell if you don't agree with them. Now if you get elected, both groups are gonna try to get you to caucus with them. They see you as somebody who doesn't have backing from a major political party so they're gonna blackmail you, they're gonna torture you, and they're gonna _eat_ you until you tell them who you're caucusing with. So what you gotta do is tell them _to hell with you! _In other words, you gotta assert yoself and make your presence be known in the Senate."

Huey remained silent as Buckner went off on a tangent about the inner workings of the Senate. Hell, Buckner was a Senator at one point of his career and was Mayor for the past decade, so Huey would be a fool not to listen to him. Finally, after Buckner concluded his extensive speech, he asked Huey a personal question:

"So why did you leave Chicago?"

A _very personal_ question indeed.

Huey's once emotionless face showed a noticeable tinge of sorrow.

"Why do you want to know?"

Buckner's usually merry demeanor was quickly replaced with concern. He knew something went wrong, and it wasn't the heartburn that he got from eating so much pizza that was to blame. He took a sip of water before navigating through the minefield of Huey's past.

"Huey, a past is not something you can bury up and forget about. At one point in your life, you've got to stop running and confront your history because it will only follow you if you can't appreciate what happened in your childhood."

"Why should I trust you with my private life?"

"Because, Huey. The more you keep it locked up inside you, the more it will continue to build in pressure. You keep doing what you're doing, and then someday you might have an emotional breakdown."

Huey closed his eyes, slumped in his seat defeated, and sighed.

"You know Oak Park? It's a little west from here."

Buckner didn't say a word. He looked at Huey intently, not daring to interrupt. Huey went on, seeing that Buckner staring at him…in fact, observing him like a therapist.

"My family used to live on the wealthy parts of Madison Street. My parents bought a house there to escape the gangs that often terrorized my father. You see before my dad met my mom, he used to be part of a local Chicago gang but my father decided to leave and reinvent himself by sending himself to college. At college, he met my mother, who helped him get through his studies. Finally, they married and settled down with stable jobs. But my father's past caught up with him and the gang leader tracked him down. He decided to move to Oak Park when my father realized his gang was stalking him, and my dad considered Oak Park a stable place to raise a family."

Buckner's face hid his thoughts behind an unreadable expression. Finally, he spoke up.

"Considering Oak Park is an affluent area of Chicago, didn't that solve his problem?"

"No, that only delayed the inevitable."

Buckner sighed, and stood up from his seat before Huey could say another word.

"Do you mind if you show me where you used to live?"

Huey's heart jumped in reaction to the question. He really wanted to revisit his old house, but he was also reluctant to reliving the tragedies that came with visiting his old house.

"Huey?"

Huey stared intently at the empty plate in front of him.

_Wasn't this meeting supposed to be a political one? This wasn't supposed to be a 'Let's find out about Huey's history' meeting._

"Fine. Let's go."

Huey got up from his chair and went to the register to pay.

"That won't be necessary."

Buckner stepped in front of Huey and gave the cashier his credit card.

"C'mon, let's go visit your house."

Huey, followed by their assistants, walked out of the pizzeria with Buckner on his left, and hopped into the limo.

"Change of plans: we're going to Oak Park." Buckner told his chauffeur. "Mr. Freeman here wants to see his old house."

The driver nodded, and drove west towards Huey's old neighborhood.

Huey looked at the familiar houses as they passed by his old neighborhood. Oak Park was his residence during his childhood and it provided stability. Yet hidden behind that stability was a tragedy waiting to happen as his father hid his problems from his family, and they came roaring with a rude awakening.

"Stop. This is the house." Huey said, looking at the Victorian-style mansion that stood before him. It was larger than his house back in Woodcrest, and from a 9-year-old Huey Freeman's perspective, the house looked colorful, vibrant, and captivatingly blissful. Today, from a 39-year-old Huey Freeman's perspective, the house looked dull, colorless, and downright depressing. Never mind that the house hadn't changed for the past thirty years.

Huey and Buckner walked up to the house, inspecting the front yard. It looked the same since the day Huey left for Woodcrest, save for the foreclosure sign standing next to the mailbox.

"It's been foreclosed. I think the bank wouldn't mind if we went in and took a look around." Buckner assumed. He flicked his fingers at one of his assistants, who was also a realtor, to unlock the door. The assistant walked up to the large oak doors and produced a key from the realtor's lock box hanging from the doorknob to the front door. He turned the key in the keyhole and opened the door, standing aside to let the two mayors go through.

"Wow. It looks exactly like the day I left this place." Huey reminisced. A flood of emotions coursed through his body, his heart pumping blood through his arteries as he took in the scene. Interestingly enough, the same furniture his family owned were still in the same spots as if they were never touched for the past thirty years.

His vision became obscured as tears came to his eyes. Turning his back to Buckner, Huey sniffled. A single teardrop fell to the wooden floor below him as he reminisced the day his parents left this world.

"Huey? Do you want to say something?" Buckner asked with a hint of concern in his voice. Huey sighed, wiped his tears and took a deep breath as he prepared to share his story.

* * *

_August 28__th__, 1999_

A nine-year-old Huey Freeman was waiting for his father to arrive from his graveyard shift and take him to school. Riley, Huey's brother, kicked a few leaves in the driveway that marked the end of summer was fast approaching. A cool wind whipped around Huey as fall-like weather was already taking over the climate in Oak Park.

"Man, dis dat ol' bullshit." A seven-year-old Riley remarked, commenting on the tardiness of their father.

"Riley, can't you observe a little more patience?"

"Huey, can't you observe bein a _gayer_-ass nigga?"

"Riley, that made no sense whatsoever."

"No sense deez nuts, nigga!"

Huey sighed, breathing in the fall-like air that surrounded him. This young version of Huey never knew tragedy in his life even if it hit him in the forehead. He was oblivious to pessimism, and knew no such negativity in the world. Nine-year old Huey Freeman was a happy-go-lucky kid and didn't have a care in the world. He smiled more often than the older version of himself, and had a more optimistic demeanor, a stark contrast from the Huey Freeman who will soon be moving to Woodcrest. This didn't mean Huey was stupid by any means. He read books considered too advanced for his age for leisure and read the newspaper everyday, which was where he formulated his own knowledge of politics. He even watched CNN instead of the usual cartoons kids his age would watch. Yet even amidst all the negativity in the media, Huey still maintained a happy personality since he's never been affected by any of the tragedies the news often reported.

August 28th, 1999 was the one day that singlehandedly managed to change all that. The day before Huey turned ten years old, he would get a taste of what those affected by gang warfare felt everyday; having to walk around wondering when the next time a group of people from a rival gang would attack him or his loved ones. Wondering if he would survive tomorrow, as he watched everybody close to him fall victim to the violence on the streets.

_You don't know what you've got until it's gone._

"Dad! Why yo gotta be so late?" Riley shouted as their father pulled into the driveway.

"Whoa, I don't think I've ever seen Riley get this excited for school!" Their dad remarked, smirking as he saw Riley's face contorted in an expression of displeasure.

"Man, school ain't mean nothin to me! I just go there to get paper from e'ryone who buys lunch!"

"Riley, what did I tell you about stealing?"

"Dad, you done told me nuthin bout makin paper off of other people! Think bout it, its kinda like a business!"

Huey shook his head as his dad laughed about Riley's perception of stealing as a "business."

"So Huey, you ready for school?"

"Yeah dad! C'mon, we're gonna be late!" Huey said, tapping at an imaginary watch on his wrist.

Huey and Riley hopped into the car, but not before arguing over who got shotgun. As usual, Huey sat in the front seat while Riley, staring at the stars induced by Huey's punch, grumbled in the backseat. His father backed the car into the street and drove toward their elementary school.

"Oh Huey, before I forget, I got you something for your birthday." Huey grabbed the thick book from his father, and instantly became boisterous upon seeing the title of the book – it was the biography of Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panthers.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Huey exclaimed, hugging his dad.

His father was also an advocate for the advancement of African Americans, and as a result was a member of the now-defunct Black Panther Party. However, his father passed his Ten Point Program and other Black Panther virtues down to Huey…but not so much with Riley who would rather become a basketball player for the Chicago Bulls.

"Damn, only a nerd would done get excited bout gettin a damn book for his bir'day. Nigga, you gay." Riley chimed in.

"Riley, maybe if you would understand the struggles –"

"Dad, you told me millions of times befo'. Deez niggas done struggled fo' our civil rights or sum shit. I don' wanna hear it."

Huey snickered at Riley's idiocy while his father shook his head. How anybody could disregard the struggles of the common Black man against the Establishment escaped his ethical standards.

"Riley, someday you might understand."

"No, I don't think he ever will," Huey joked while snickering as Riley slapped him about his huge afro.

"Huey," his father attempted to change the subject "I think we also need to cut your hair. You need to look more like an adult if you're going on ten tomorrow."

"But dad!"

"No buts! Look at your brother, Riley. He looks like a young adult already with his short hair."

"Yeah, Huey. If you wanna stay a juvenile then keep yo afro." Riley rubbed it in Huey's face. This was ironic considering Huey was the mature one and Riley was the juvenile.

Huey sighed and crossed his arms across his chest in exasperated defeat.

Finally, they arrived at the elementary school after a mile of driving. The elementary school was only a mere twenty minutes of walking from their house, which meant Huey and Riley walked home in the afternoons since their father always preached about getting their exercise.

"Alright, kids. Have a good day at school! And I'll see you guys this afternoon." He roughed up Huey's hair by swiftly running a fist through Huey's hair several times back and forth. Riley laughed as Huey protested.

Huey and Riley hopped off the car, and proceeded to walk to their respective classrooms. Huey turned to look back at their father, waving goodbye to him as he drove off.

Huey had no idea that would be the last time he saw his father alive.

As Huey arrived to class, his father drove back to his house. Immediately after pulling out of the elementary school's student drop-off driveway, he was followed by at least eight black Cadillacs with a speaker system that was loud enough to make the windows in his car vibrate. Feeling apprehensive about these vehicles, Huey's father decided to take a long route back home to test if the Cadillacs behind him were following his route. Sure enough, every turn he took the Cadillacs went and after thirty minutes of tailgating, Huey's father was worried.

_Am I being stalked by a gang?_

The only reason why Huey's mother and father moved downtown Chicago and into a predominantly affluent suburb before raising a family was so the gangs of Huey's father's past would stop haunting him. They would _never_ set foot in Oak Park, considering that the place was _full_ of snitches, complete with a neighborhood watch force, a police force, and a bunch of white people eager to talk to the police. As per gang tradition, if you were to vacate the gang, then you were immediately made Public Enemy #1 in the eyes of the gang leader. This was exactly the case when Huey's father left the gang – and he did it in grandiose manner by nearly blinding the gang leader's left eye and ripping off his right ear like Mike Tyson. The gang leader lived on, and the years after that incident did nothing to stem the raging anger burning in his heart as he swore to hunt down Mr. Freeman and kill him.

The cell phone rang, making Huey's father jump in his seat. His hands were shaking wildly as he put the phone to his ear.

"H-Hello?"

"Hello Mr. Freeman."

The voice emanating from the phone's speaker had an arctic tinge, making the bone marrow inside Mr. Freeman's body freeze instantaneously.

"What do you _want_ from me!"

"You know what I want. I want your _head_. But that's not what I called you for."

Mr. Freeman looked into his rearview mirror and realized the Cadillacs were no longer following him. His heart skipped a beat and dread began to brim over his emotions as he listened intently into his phone.

"What I called you for, Mr. Freeman, is that I was in the neighborhood…I mean, _your_ neighborhood, and I decided to stop by. Did I ever tell you how good your wife looks?"

"Don't you even _think_ about laying a finger on her, or I will –"

"Or you'll what? Rip off my right ear? Remember, Mr. Freeman I have your wife tied up in a chair. If _you_ lay a finger on _me_, then I'll be the one who'll fill your wife's skull with lead bullets."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Mr. Freeman, I don't think you remember who I am."

For the past five minutes, Mr. Freeman was speeding through residential areas at 90 miles per hour, deftly maneuvering the curves and obstacles on the road. At this point, it was a miracle Mr. Freeman was not being chased by cops, considering these residential areas were literally crawling with squad cars on a typical day. The usual five-minute drive back to the Freeman residence seemed like a considerably longer trip. Finally, Mr. Freeman arrived home, but his biggest fear was confirmed when he saw five Cadillacs parked on the driveway and on the street near his house. He barged through the half-opened door, and into the living room where he met face-to-face with the gang leader for the first time in several years. He saw his wife tied up with duct tape over her mouth next to him.

"Ah. Mr. Freeman, nice of you to drop by."

"LET HER GO!"

"No, I'm afraid I can't do that. See, when you joined our gang years ago, you literally signed a contract devoting your time, energy, and your life to this gang. When you decided to go absent without leave, you broke that contract. Now that was enough to make me mad, but then you proceeded to rip off my right ear and blind my left eye. That was just putting this over the top…and it was enough to make me _furious_. I'm going to KILL YOU, FREEMAN!"

Huey Freeman stared out the window in his classroom. Huey never bothered to listen to his teachers, not because he could never pay attention – he had an attention span considerably longer than today's typical kid – but because he already knew much of what the teacher was ranting about…add that in with the paranoia Huey believed in which the government was trying to brainwash children in their vulnerable childhood years through spreading propaganda in elementary schools.

"_I hate school. Why couldn't I be taught at home?"_

Huey continued to stare at the natural setting outside. He saw a few birds nestle in a tree adjacent to his window. After a few minutes of ruffling their feathers, the two birds took off into the cool August morning. Huey envied them as the two birds flew freely into the wind.

And then it hit Huey. Angst and dread took over every nerve in his body. His heart began pounding, and his face became flushed. He never experienced this sort of apprehension in his short nine-year-old life, so it was natural for him to freak out in response to this nervous breakdown.

"_Am I having a heart attack?"_

Huey couldn't figure out why his body became so abruptly tense. He knew he couldn't be having a heart attack because he ate healthy, exercised daily, and above all, he was too young to have his arteries clogged. He put his head down into his hands on the desk in hopes of trying to get this feeling to pass by. Immediately, he knew what was wrong. His intuition told him something he would never comprehend:

"_Your parents are in trouble."_

Huey's head shot up and stared at the clock. It was 1:30 in the afternoon and he still had another 30 minutes before he could leave school. He decided to act quickly.

"Mr. Petto?" Huey's right hand was raised. He could barely keep it up there.

"Yes?" Mr. Petto boredly retorted.

"I don't feel too good."

Indeed, when Mr. Petto turned from the white board to see what the problem was, he quickly understood. He saw a frightened Huey with his face losing pigment quickly. It looked as if Huey was asphyxiating. In other words, he looked as if he was close to death as he suddenly began to shudder.

"You need to go to the nurse. Here, get the hall pass. Quickly, you look terrible!" Mr. Petto said with urgency.

Mr. Petto handed Huey the hall pass as he stumbled out of the door and down the hall. Huey's heart began to race as if it struggled to pump blood down his body. His breathing was shallow, and each step he took towards the nurse's office only served to make him more delirious.

"Oh my god! What happened to you?" The nurse asked as she saw the terribly infirm looking Huey falter into her office.

"I don't feel too good."

Immediately, the nurse jabbed a thermometer into Huey's mouth. A few minutes passed and she read the thermometer.

"Your temperature's normal. That's weird because if anything is normal, it's definitely not your condition. Here, you should lie down," she gestured toward the small couch in her office. Huey promptly walked over to it and lied down in fetal position, shuddering as he settled into the couch.

The nurse asked for Huey's home phone number and called his parents. Yet the phone kept ringing. No answer. As if to make matters worse, Huey's condition worsened as his greatest fears were confirmed. His parents were definitely in dire straits.

"Nobody's answering. Are you sure this was the right number?"

"Of course," Huey weakly answered.

At that moment, Riley barged into the nurse's office.

"Damn, nigga. You look like you seens a ghost!"

"Riley, why are you here?" Huey looked as if he was ready to puke.

"Nigga, I don't know. Yo teacher came into mah class an' told me to go to da nurse's office cuz yo' ass don' look too good."

"Gee, thanks."

The nurse hung the phone up and stared at the two brothers.

"Nobody's answering. I don't think anybody's home."

"_They're home alright."_ Huey gravely thought. This only made matters worse as he retched into the garbage can next to him.

"Eww! This nigga done caught the SARS!"

The bell rang, dismissing the students from school. It was 2:00, which meant Huey and Riley could walk back home. The nurse was concerned.

"Do you have a ride home?"

"No, we usually walk back to our house." Huey said. After looking at the concerned expression on the nurse's face, he reassured her, "it's only a 20 minute walk."

"Listen, I don't want you walking if you're in this condition. This looks critical."

"No! I need to get home!" Huey exclaimed, struggling to get up.

The nurse stared at Huey incredulously. She could not believe anyone would even try to walk a mile in this strange condition.

"Are you sure? Because you are the School District's liability at this point."

"Listen. I've got Riley right here. If anything wrong happens to me, Riley can call an ambulance." Huey assured. Riley nodded at the nurse.

"Okay, fine." The nurse said, yet she still seemed skeptical. She thought to herself _"This might be the single worst decision I may ever make."_

Huey, mustering all the strength he could to walk out of the office, once again reassured the school nurse.

"Remember, if anything happens, call an ambulance!" The nurse called after him.

Huey finally stabilized himself enough to break into an urgent sprint. Riley followed closely behind him.

"Damn, fo' a sick nigga you sure can run!"

Huey, ignoring Riley, continued to race back to his house. His mind couldn't comprehend why he thought his parents were in trouble. Yet that would be the least of his problems as he felt his heart began to give in. Cold sweat poured down his face and collapsed onto the sidewalk.

"Huey! Get up!"

Riley extended a hand to his brother to help him up. Huey grabbed it and convulsed as he struggled to get up. He continued running, not bothering to wait and stabilize himself before he took off. Riley was right behind him in pursuit.

Finally, their house was in view. Huey noticed several black Cadillacs parked around his house, and the dread became overwhelming. Riley saw the scene as they ran toward their house, yet he didn't question why those strange cars were parked there. Huey slowed down, and wheezed as he tried to catch his breath. Riley came to Huey's side and asked him if he was all right.

"Yeah, I think I'm fine" Huey lied.

"What are those cars doing here?" Riley asked.

"I don't know. I really don't." Huey answered. "I got a dreadful feeling about this."

Huey and Riley carefully walked up to the front door, which strangely was ajar. Huey tried to stop his wheezing and silently walked in. He could hear yelling in the living room, across the entrance from the front door. His mother was crying and he heard his father locked up in a fierce argument with the intruders. Huey and Riley froze on the spot.

_Were we being robbed?_

Abruptly, the shouting was interrupted with several gunshots. A scream emanating from Huey and Riley's mother was enough to form curds in the blood in anyone close enough to hear it.

"Oh my god! You've killed him!"

Huey instinctively ran into the house. He couldn't keep silent anymore. He screamed into the living room, where he was met with several built up thugs wearing wife beaters and tattoos all over their skin. They immediately snatched Huey up and restrained him from the scene.

"Huey!" His mother called.

"Is this your son?" Huey heard an arctic, bone chilling voice across the living room. The man who possessed this voice was missing a right ear and wore an eye patch over his left eye.

"Don't hurt him! He's only a child! He doesn't know anything about this!"

"Don't worry, miss. I don't hurt children."

And with that, the gang leader pointed his handgun at Mrs. Freeman's forehead. Huey pleaded for him not to shoot. The gang leader turned his head to his right and calmly, yet coldly, stated his orders at his henchmen:

"Make sure he watches."

The cold order to his henchmen was heeded. The thugs who restrained Huey brought him so he had a front row seat to the scene. Another thug held Huey's head stiffly so he could not turn away from what was about to happen.

_Boom._

Huey struggled as he saw the bullet piece his mother's forehead. She fell from the chair with a soft _thud_ next to her husband. Tears streamed through Huey's eyes and obscured his vision. The thugs released him and Huey crumpled onto the bloodstained floor. Emotions of anguish and depression flooded his mind as crawled over to his unmoving parents.

Riley came into the house and stared as though he could not believe what his eyes were seeing.

"Why? Why did you do this!" Huey asked, pounding his small fists into the gang leader's ankle.

"Little boy, you would not understand at this young age." The gang leader simply retorted.

Huey continued to lament. He could not bear to see both his parents crumpled on the floor. Huey felt so helpless and so alone. The two people he cared most about in his life were no longer there for him. He was officially alone in this world. The trauma of this realization could psychologically injure a vulnerable child's mind.

"C'mon. Let's go. The cops are coming." The gang leader said. Sirens could be heard in a distance.

The thugs promptly fled the house and into the Cadillacs. The cars' tires squealed against the pavement as they made a getaway from the crime.

Three people died on August 28th, 1999. Mr. Freeman took a bullet to the chest, immediately piecing the heart and shutting down the circulatory system. He died within seconds. Mrs. Freeman took a bullet to the forehead, piercing through the brain's cortex, limbic system, and finally into the medulla oblongata, which controlled involuntary functions of the body. She died instantly.

The happy-go-lucky Huey Freeman died that day as well. The trauma was enough to singlehandedly change Huey's constant positive outlook on life. Huey felt as though someone took a knife and stabbed him repeatedly. Upon seeing the death of his parents, pessimism took over his personality. Skepticism became the default reaction to anything that could be construed as optimistic. He couldn't understand why a bunch of thugs would just break into their house and kill his parents. Huey was so emotionally close to them. They loved him, cared for him and gave him what he needed for the nine years he walked this Earth. And the world just decided on the day before his tenth birthday to take them away from him. His parents were the only kind of safety Huey knew, and with that safety gone, Huey would have to fend for himself and his brother. Destiny just did what Huey thought would never happen to him…and the happy-go-lucky world he perceived he was living in was shattered in an instant. Immediately, Huey became a totally different person: his childlike tendencies were instantaneously replaced with a personality likening to that of a middle-aged person. He became bitter; enraged at the cards he was dealt. In other words, Huey came of age before he even hit puberty. He developed a precocious personality. He gradually learned how the universe around him worked.

Huey got up from his crumpled position on the floor. He wiped the last remaining tears falling from his eyes. A scowl formed on his face as a constant fire of anger at the universe began to burn in his emotions. The fire that burned within him became an eternal flame as Huey's disgust at the world fueled the bottomless pit of rage that continued to grow – and there was enough fuel to last several lifetimes.

Huey was irate enough to blow up right there on the spot and go off on a murderous tangent. Yet he just stood there, scowling at the scene before him. He had a newfound ability to lock up his emotions and just let it build inside him instead of letting the natural laws of entropy dissipate his emotions into the universe. Huey's rage went nuclear, yet he didn't show his emotions. He only stood there, with no evidence that he was fuming inside. Huey amazed himself as he continued his ascent into new heights of anger, not even letting himself vent into the world around him.

Huey had so much negative emotions coursing through his blood, he thought this would be the last day he would _ever_ be happy enough to even force a smile onto his face again.

Indeed, ever since that fateful day, Huey was never seen smiling again.

* * *

The 39-year old Huey stared at the living room as he finished telling his story. The same living room that was venue to the first of many traumas Huey would experience in the next ten years.

"My lord." Buckner sighed, "I'm truly sorry for your loss. I didn't mean to bring up something that was so personal to you."

"It's fine." Huey sniffled. It was thirty years since that fateful day. Yet the ramifications could still be freshly felt. The consequences were still obvious: thirty years later, he remained the same bitter Huey Freeman born on that late summer day.

"So, is it okay if you tell me what happened to you afterwards?"

Huey took a deep breath before proceeding. He exhaled, blinking as he tried to get rid of the moisture obscuring his vision.

"The police came minutes later. I tried my best to describe the intruders, but the police never found them. It was as if there was no trace of the thugs in Chicago. But during the next two days, my brother and me remained at this house with a police officer offering to care for us until the Illinois Department of Children and Families found a relative that can take our custody. The only relative living in the Freeman family was my Granddad, Robert Freeman. He took us in with open arms and we remained in Chicago for a few more months before he straightened out the inheritance with the lawyers. The life insurance itself was five million dollars, this house was worth three million and the personal worth of both my parents were about seven million. So my Granddad took fifteen million dollars before taxes and spent some of the money on a house in Woodcrest, Maryland. He thought we would be safer in Maryland. He also thought it was a good place to retire, so by December, we completed our relocation to Woodcrest."

Buckner Ogden placed a reassuring hand on Huey's shoulder. Huey looked up and stared into Buckner's eyes.

"Huey, I don't think I can grasp the things you've been through. But it's made you into a wiser person. I can tell. People who keep their heads up high even through these kinds of tragedies usually emerge into a more knowledgeable person. I'm glad you trusted your entire story with me."

Huey's eyes went back to staring at his shoes. He was in the house he was raised. It brought a strange, haunting feeling about this.

"_I'm glad you trusted your entire story with me."_

The thing is…that wasn't even _a fraction_ of tragedies Huey went through in his adolescent years.

* * *

So, when I first wrote this story, I had to think why was Huey _always_ so angry? I just had to create my own reason for his animosity toward the world.

To give you a little background on Buckner Ogden, he's a parody of the archetypical cocky, ostentatious buffoon who thinks he knows everything. Indeed, he will become an integral part of the plot for this story, but that's all he is; merely a plot device meant to fuel the story line (later on in the story). Typically, I don't really like to use original characters (or OC's in fanfiction terms) but I needed to find a plot device to elicit flashbacks to Huey's childhood, and I guess Buckner will fill that role. Buckner Ogden's name was derived from the first two mayors of Chicago…just to let you know.

So, if there's anything you would like to tell me, any thoughts you would like to add, go ahead and review!

-Ian


	3. The Return to Woodcrest

Sorry if I took too long to update, but I've been bogged down with midterms and projects. Anyway, thank you KODfreak, MissG2020, DaveTheWordsmith, and iAnneart01 for your reviews! It gives me encouragement that people like where the story is going.

Disclaimer: I had no idea we were supposed to do one of these...seriously, but if i'm going to be sued by Aaron McGruder, I should probably get in the habit. Okay, here goes nothing...

_Any characters in this story are purely fictional. Any similarities to anyone whether living or dead is purely coincidental. The Boondocks are property of Aaron McGruder, the Universal Press Syndicate, and Sony Pictures Television and other affiliated entities. This is a work of fanfiction, therefore the characters in this story are used for entertainment purposes only._

* * *

The Return to Woodcrest

Huey stood in front of a buoyant and energetic crowd numbering in the thousands in McKeldin Mall at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. Although it was a hot and humid April afternoon, a legion of supporters didn't seem confounded by the simmering heat emanating from the oppressive rays of the sun. The crowd was a sea of blue and white and held up various campaign signs in displaying their patronage for the Independent-running candidate. Not one open spot of grass in the open courtyard was visible.

"Some of my biggest critics have lambasted me: 'Why are you running as an Independent?'" Huey spoke to his highly receptive crowd of supporters "Well, I tell them, Republicans and Democrats don't care about the people! What they care about is making a profit out of the money they get from lobbyists and they care only about getting re-elected. They disregard little people who have elected them, and refuse to give you a voice. What I will do is make sure the oppressed are given a voice in the Senate. I want to tell you that when you vote for me, you're voting for the only candidate who cares about what you think."

Huey paused as the crowd applauded to his political values. He finally wrapped up his speech, since time constraints dictating his schedule meant he could not stay longer.

"I have learned through experience that independence goes a long way. Remember me when November comes around and I will promise you, you will see how far independence can go. Thank you, and have a good afternoon!"

The crowd erupted into a resounding, cacophonous roar of approval as Huey walked down the steps, where his advisors greeted him.

"Good work, Huey. That was a great speech, as usual. So, we have been through three of the toss-up cities, and we have one more city to campaign in."

Huey scrunched his face, forgetting he had one more city to campaign in. "What city is next on the agenda?"

"Woodcrest."

Huey fell silent forthwith. Not that this was unusual; he always had a silent demeanor about him. Yet his assistant immediately felt as though this silence was the result of something that has gone awry. After a few uptight moments, Huey was led by his other assistants to be escorted off campus and back on the campaign trail.

Woodcrest is a city where the affluent reside; the best of the best of Maryland were attracted to this luxurious city. Its founder, Ed Wuncler I, had always envisioned a city restricted only for the aristocrats, and Woodcrest was the brainchild of his ideas. Literally built from his own two hands, Ed Wuncler died a happy man as the porcelain city he envisioned rose up from his imaginations. His grandson, Ed Wuncler III inherited the city and literally owned every piece of property within the city limits. Although Ed Wuncler III was influenced by his idiocy and his warrior-like tendencies, Woodcrest remained an affluent city due in part because of the mayors who would often block any attempt to turn Woodcrest into a military base. Since Woodcrest had significantly more millionaires living within the city limits than people relying on welfare, the city was a strong Republican stronghold. However, after a peculiar election primary, no Republican emerged as a strong candidate for the Senate race and both eventually dropped out. Huey Freeman and Charlie LeMieux – the Democrat's nomination – were the only ones left in the race for the Senate. Since no Republican was running, Woodcrest became a toss-up, as its residents were undecided as to which candidate they would vote for.

Huey arrived via motorcade at Woodcrest after delivering his speech at College Park. As Huey stared through the window from his limousine, he was reminded of the helter-skelter lifestyle that reigned during his adolescent years. The way edifices in Woodcrest remained the same for the past two decades seemed to ridicule Huey, as if daring him to remember what had transpired within this shameful city. He began to pass by places Huey associated with his friends. As he passed by the familiar venues, Huey's mind began to impose spectral projections of his friends who departed long ago into his vision. As Huey passed by the mall, he remembered Riley throwing aluminum fold-up chairs at Santa Claus demanding "you pay what you owe!" and etched his face into a rare, yet broken smile as he remembered the bittersweet memories of his brother. Huey sometimes ponders what would Riley be if he were still here today…and plaintively laments on what could have been. His limo passed by the soccer fields, where he and Caesar would practice taking shots at the goal. Either Huey was a dreadful goaltender or Caesar was just too good of a soccer player, since every shot he would fire at Huey would result in the soccer ball screaming past Huey and into the goal's net. Obviously it was an unfair mismatch, since Caesar was the star captain of the Woodcrest High School soccer team. As the limo moved on, Huey also saw the basketball court, where Cindy "Fearsome" McPhaerson often trounced Riley at a good game of basketball. Riley was a great dribbler, who deftly maneuvered the ball with his hands like a star basketball player but he couldn't shoot the ball to get anywhere near the basket to save his life. Cindy on the other hand would shoot graceful shots with a perfect parabolic trajectory into the net without hitting the rim or backboard almost 100% of the time. She was the only person who had 100% shooting percentage even if Riley (or anyone else) tried to guard her. Riley honestly thought she was the only white person who could shoot like that. As Huey's route to city hall brought him close to an all-too-familiar hill with the large overgrown oak tree on the summit, Huey couldn't help but plaintively elicit memories about Jazmine Dubois, the only love he has ever known in his life. After their dramatic break-up before going to college, Huey swore to never deviate from his life's plans and never love again. Yet he admits he still desired to reconcile with Jazmine, although the outside chances of that occurring was slim since he had no clue as to her whereabouts.

"Yo! Freeman, it's been a long time, ya know?" Ed Wuncler III greeted Huey at city hall.

Huey said nothing in reply and only stared at him through fixed eyes that would make anybody cringe. Ed Wuncler III took notice of this and kept talking in vain attempt to appease the "unappeasable."

"So, um…" Ed nervously said, avoiding Huey's glowering eyes, "Um, you remember Gin Rummy?"

Huey continued to stare disapprovingly at Ed. _"How the hell did he inherit Woodcrest?"_ He thought to himself.

"Yo! Rummy! Get yo white ass over here!"

"Nigga, you call me an ass one mo time, you're gonna be shitting lead bullets out yo ass fo' weeks!"

"Rummy, git over here and say hello to Huey!"

Immediately after Ed finished his command, several gunshots were fired from a room adjacent to where Ed was standing, making Ed flee for his life with a high-pitched scream nobody thought he possessed.

"Um, 'scuse me, but I think I just shit my pants." Ed remarked, confirming Ed's chronic problem of keeping his waste from evacuating his colon whenever he was startled. Huey contorted his face in disgust. Same old Ed Wuncler III.

Huey saw a white man with cornrows walk through the doors he just shot at. Gin Rummy, who often tag teamed with Ed Wuncler III, was the blackest white man anybody would meet. As Rummy's eyes landed on the afro-wearing man standing in front of him, he was startled at the sheer enormity of Huey Freeman. This older version of Huey towered over Gin Rummy, who always thought of Huey as a pint-sized ten-year-old kid, resulting in a shocking revelation when he saw the altitudinous thirty-nine year old staring right back at him.

"Huey! Wow, you look…_tall_."

"Yeah, whatever. Look, am I having a campaign speech here in front of city hall or not?" Huey grew impatient, odd considering he always held patience as a virtue.

"Um, lemmie check the mayor's agenda…" Rummy flipped through the mayor's calendar, ripping out a page inadvertently in the process. "Ah, yes. I think you were scheduled to hold a rally at 3:30 in the afternoon."

Huey looked at the clock that hung over the fancily carved wooden desk in front of them. It was an hour before his speech, which gave him time to think over his speech. However, Huey never got to review his speech, due to the inescapable fact that he was in the city he swore to never visit again nearly twenty years ago. Yet here he is, fate having decided to force Huey to face his daunting past and release the spectral entities haunting his memories.

He pondered about his friends, asking to nobody in particular, _"Where are my friends now? What are they doing now?"_ After his inquisition, he continued to ponder, lamenting as he recalled his first and only love, _"Where's Jazmine?"_

As Huey got onto the stage in front of City Hall, Huey stared into a surprisingly large and cacophonous crowd. Huey was astounded by the sheer size of the crowd not because it overflowed into the closed streets adjacent to city hall, but because he half expected an anemic crowd of supporters, acknowledging that Woodcrest was primarily a conservative stronghold. Huey's political ideologies included the advancement of African Americans and other oppressed people, as well as being a voice for The People and not The Establishment. These views blatantly deviated from Conservative views. Huey always perceived Woodcrest as a town of aristocrats, and by extension, The Establishment. Yet it was possible that Woodcrest would rather vote for him than Charlie LeMieux, a left-wing extremist. Huey decided to keep his speech short and concise so he would not bore the crowd with an unnecessarily long oration. The speech only lasted until four in the afternoon, and after the ensuing applause from his abundant amount of supporters, Huey met up with his advisors to discuss what is next on the itinerary for Woodcrest.

"What we've planned next was for you to personally go door-to-door in the neighborhoods of Woodcrest."

Huey apprehensively knew this was coming. Although he and his advisors loved to personally meet up with the residents of cities he campaigned in, Huey would rather not visit his old neighborhood, which was sure to summon touchy subjects buried deep within his memories.

"_You can't keep running from your past."_

Buckner Ogden's words resounded within Huey's mind, reminding him that his past will catch up to him sooner or later. Huey, whose proactive personality refused to let him put off anything for later, decided to take the challenges that lie ahead of him head on.

As promised, Huey went door-to-door to preach about his political beliefs and what he would do if he were elected to the Senate. Some neighbors kindly told them they will be voting for him, while half of the residents kindly slammed the door in his face upon looking straight at the politically Independent candidate without letting him explain what he was there for. A few neighbors actually remembered Huey as the grandson of Robert Freeman, as they would welcome him into their houses and refuse to let him go until Huey acknowledged he remembered them and his grandfather, which was difficult considering the manner in which his grandfather died. Huey would rather not dig up those memories and had a feeling Woodcrest refused to let him forget about the calamity that ensued. Sure, the hospitality from some of the residents would be great after spending many weeks on the campaign trail, but Huey would rather not bring up topics he considered taboo.

Finally, after campaigning through half of the neighborhood that played venue to Huey's adolescent life, he arrived at the house he lived in for about nine years. Huey could literally feel the gates of hell open up in his presence, releasing the dreaded phantasmal ghosts that have taken residence in his memories for the past twenty years. Visiting his old neighborhood was enough to elicit recollections he attempted to drown with hundreds of gallons of alcohol decades ago, but visiting the one house he lived in – the same house where the grim reaper returned to finish off the rest of his family – was enough to make Huey delirious. Huey couldn't understand why, out of all the cities in the world, Woodcrest was the city that destiny had chosen to be the epicenter of a catastrophe that left Huey with nobody's shoulder to lament on.

Huey grew shuddersome as he approached his old house in Woodcrest. He remembered the address so vividly to the point where it was engrained into his mind after what had transpired in that house. 327 Timid Deer Lane never seemed like home to a ten-year-old Huey Freeman, due to the fact that there was no significant Black population near it, unlike Oak Park which was literally walking distance from the closest congregation of African Americans. Woodcrest was secluded from anything that could be construed as Black-related. Having been relocated hastily after the catastrophe in Chicago, Huey was forever separated from the only home he knew. He lost his sense of safety, his sense of innocence, his sense of being carefree, and most tragically of all, Huey lost the only two people who he thought would be there for him forever. This seclusion from his actual hometown made it seem like Huey was living out in the woods far from people he would actually get along with…he actually felt like he was living in the boondocks.

Huey approached the front lawn of his old house, recalling the day when he moved into Woodcrest and the months of loneliness that ensued.

* * *

_December 7__th__, 1999_

A ten-year-old Huey Freeman stared through the car's window as his Granddad drove him through unfamiliar territory. Snow had fallen on the roads, making driving conditions hazardous. Several hours of driving have compelled Huey to lose his sense of direction. The only thing he knew: he was definitely not in Chicago anymore. A large U-Haul truck seemed to trudge through the snow on the road in front of them, which contained few pieces of Huey and Riley's belongings. A majority of the space occupied in the truck belonged to Granddad, who thought the furniture back in Huey's house in Oak Park could be sold along with the house for a higher profit. A coldhearted decision indeed, but as long as Granddad got a few thousand dollars more, he was happy.

Today marked the 58th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The radio blared that distinction for a few seconds, paying a short respect of those who died on that "infamous day in history" before returning to playing classical jazz, which Granddad preferred over today's "hippity hop, or whatever the hell you kids call it." Riley fell asleep in the backseat hours ago, his unconsciousness induced by the somniferous classical music. Huey's eyes began to droop once he saw the sign welcoming him to Pennsylvania. Ah, so that was where they were…just about thirty minutes from Pittsburgh. Huey fell into an uneasy sleep as the classical music began to distort, his eyelids becoming heavy as they fell over his pupils.

"_Don't hurt him! He's only a child!"_

"_Don't worry, miss. I don't hurt children."_

"_Mommy! Don't kill my mommy!"_

"_Make sure he watches."_

Huey's nightmare put him straight back into the middle of the fateful tragedies that claimed both his parents. He struggled against the forceful python-like grips that the thugs clutched him in. Two rugged hands ensured he couldn't look away from the inevitable deathblow. Huey tried to avert his eyes, but in the process they landed on the ghastly corpse of his father, whose blood had covered the carpet in the immediate vicinity of his sprawled body. The sight was enough to open the floodgates behind Huey's eyes. He screamed, he kicked, and he flailed his arms, but to no avail. He could not escape the strong grip of the thugs restraining him. His father was often the only one who would let him eat cookies after bedtime, sneaking the cookie jar into Huey's bedroom even after his mother explicitly made it known cookies are forbidden after bedtime. Huey remembered the days when his father would play catch with a baseball with him, developing a formidable pitching arm. In essence, his father was considered his first best friend, because he knew he would be there for him even when Cairo, his other best friend, would abandon him in times of need. But now his father was gone, and he lost the only true best friend he would ever have. Huey's heart felt as if it was ripped right out of his chest by the gang leader and smashed into the wall several times without mercy. He couldn't bear the sight. But if Huey thought things weren't going to get any worse, the gang leader disproved that in one instant.

"_Please! Don't hurt my mommy!"_

"_Shut that pipsqueak up, will you! I'm trying to concentrate here!"_

Huey screamed at the top of his lungs, attempting to break the concentration of the gang leader. His logic was that it could save his mother…yet it would only be a fruitless attempt as the thugs extinguished Huey's plaintive cries of anguish.

_Boom._

The bullet instantly pierced through his mother's forehead. The life that once took residence in her body was instantly forced out before she hit the floor with a soft _thud._

Huey saw an eruption of maroon where the bullet made contact. A heavyhearted tsunami of emotions collided into him. Grief brimmed over his state of mind as he began to bawl, asking for the reason behind the motivation of killing two innocent people as he crumpled to the ground. His tiny four-foot body crawled over to his unmoving parents.

Huey remembered the welfare his mother provided him. He loved his mother to the point where they were inseparable. Every time Huey came down with an ailment, his mother would be there to provide care and love as he got over his infirmity. If Huey was sad for any reason at all, he could always depend on his mother to provide words of encouragement to help him move on from whatever caused his dejection. Huey's parents provided safety and security for him; he believed this stability was going to last for eternity. Yet his assumptions were broken with two easy trigger-pulling actions by an HNIC he never knew about.

Huey was doomed to live a life of mistrust. He languished as he thought any stranger could just walk into his life and take away his sense of stability. His peace of mind was immediately compromised as he witnessed the deaths of his parents, the only two people he devoted all of his amorousness.

"_Why? Why did you do this?"_

Huey tried to impale the gang leader by pounding his tiny fists into the intruder's ankle. It was hopeless. His parents were already dead. What can he do about it? Absolutely nothing. His punches only became weaker and weaker as the realization that no amount of rage can bring his parents back.

"_Little boy, you would not understand at this young age."_

Huey became disconsolate quickly. He lost his will to fight back and crumpled back to the ground next to his parents. He was crying an ocean out his eyes, and he couldn't hold back. He was too passionate to let his parents go. But they were already gone.

"Huey? HUEY!" Granddad shouted, rescuing Huey from the depths of his horrifyingly scarring nightmare.

Huey convulsed in his seat as he sprang back to the present day. He noticed cold sweat all over his face, his heart beating unnaturally fast, and his body tense from anxiousness and apprehensiveness.

"Boy, what were you dreaming about? Lookin' like you got a demonic possession going on."

Huey said nothing, preferring silence over explanation. He stared through the car's windows and into the white wintry landscape. He saw a sign welcoming him to Maryland, which meant they were close to his destination.

"Huey, I know you're upset about leaving Chicago. But trust me, you will thank me when you'll notice we don't have gangs around to beat our asses."

"Granddad, we're going to live thirty minutes from Baltimore. I'm sure we're going to meet new gangs."

"Hush, boy."

Huey sighed and slumped into his seat. Granddad noticed the sad expression etched across Huey's face, and offered him something to cheer up about.

"You know, you look like your father when he was your age. Had the same overgrown afro as you do."

Okay, that wasn't something to get cheery about. In fact, it only elicited even more negative emotions from Huey.

"Please don't make any references to my dead father."

"Huey, I'm sorry. But it's been four months! Haven't you finished grieving yet?"

Huey was shocked by his Granddad's insensitive comment. He replaced the grieving expression on his face with his default one, scowling as he lambasted his Granddad for his ignorant comment.

"Boy, what's gotten into you? You used to be a cheery person."

"I'm not anymore."

"Aw, you're just sad. Don't worry, you'll be the same typical happy, cheery Huey Freeman you once were."

Unbeknownst to Granddad, his misguided prediction would never come true. Nothing could be further from the truth when it came to predicting if Huey's childlike tendencies would _ever_ return.

Granddad pulled off the interstate and into urban roads as they approached the neighborhood they were moving into. Huey looked around in reconnaissance, observing the unfamiliar city that was upon them. Riley woke up, detecting the change of velocity the car underwent as they slowed into the exit lane. He emitted an emphatic yawn as he sprang to life.

"Aye. What are we doing in bougietown?"

"Boy, this is Woodcrest. This is where we're gonna be living."

"What? Ya mean we're gonna be stuck in this fucked up place?"

"My sentiments exactly." Huey chimed in.

"Boys, this place is much safer than Chicago. See? Not a mark of graffiti around."

"Man, dis is bullshit."

"Riley, hush yo mouth fo' I put my foot up yo ass."

"How you gonna do dat when you're driving? Man, I don' feel safe wit' you drivin if dat's how ya act 'hind da wheel."

"Boy!" Granddad spun around, whipped his belt out and snapped his belt at Riley, who was screaming "Child abuse! Help me, my Granddad is abusin' me!"

"Granddad!" Huey shouted as the car veered off the road. "Keep your eyes on the road!"

"I tolds you I don' feel safe wit old people 'hind da wheel." Riley remarked.

"Keep talkin boy, you gonna get a country-style beatin' when we get there."

After fifteen minutes of navigating the urban roads, Granddad finally pulled into the entrance of their neighborhood, which was marked with fancy edifices, statues, and an elegant fountain that was frozen by the subfreezing temperature. Elegant houses came into view, exemplifying the income level of the residents within them. To Granddad, Woodcrest was the place for him to retire, far from the gangs of Chicago – a place where peace of mind can exist. To Huey, Woodcrest was just a porcelain town for the aristocrats and the airheads. The narcissists who think highly of themselves are the same ones who were compelled to purchase a mansion in Woodcrest. Huey hated those kinds of people – especially when these narcissists were part of the Establishment. They were the same people who controlled the powers that be. Huey looked on with disgust as elegant house after elegant house passed by his sight. As granddad followed the road along the circumference of a large frozen lake, Huey saw a white man wearing nothing but a shirt and shorts as he exercised around the lake, jogging as if the cold weather had no effect on him.

"_White people."_ Huey snorted.

"See boys? This is a quiet neighborhood. This is a great place to retire."

Neither Riley nor Huey bothered to respond as they looked on with disgust. "_Whitecrest_" was a better name for this porcelain town.

"Okay boys," Granddad said as the U-Haul truck pulled up into their new residence, "this will be _my_ new house. _Mine_, meaning _you_ don't own it. _Mine_ meaning you will not break anything, deface anything, or do anything that can potentially decrease its property value."

"Great." Huey said with blatant sarcasm.

As the men who helped move the furniture from Granddad's house opened the U-Haul and unloaded their belongings, Huey observed the people who passed by in their cars. All of them were White people, who stared suspiciously at the new Black family moving in.

"I feel like we're going to get along with our new neighbors just fine." Huey acrimoniously remarked.

"C'mere boys. Here, take your stuff to your room. Choose any room on the second floor _except_ the master's bedroom." Granddad ordered.

Huey and Riley grabbed the boxes labeled for them and trudged into their new home. Once they entered, they were greeted with a bombastic interior, which had a spacious living space. They marched up into their room, which Granddad explicitly stated they were going to share so he can have a guest room for the dates he would often bring home.

Riley stared through one of the large windows, which provided ample amounts of natural light in their bedroom.

"Man, dere ain't nobody we're gonna get along with!" Riley exclaimed as he saw the odd looks that their neighbors were giving when they saw that Black people were moving into the large house that was just recently vacated by an affluent lawyer.

"Riley, we're pilgrims in an unholy land." Huey retorted, organizing his belongings on the bookshelves and desks in their spacious room. "This is my side of the room. Don't mess with anything on my side, and I won't mess with anything on your side of the room." Huey quickly laid the ground rules down.

"Fine wit' me, nigga."

Several hours after moving the furniture in, the men who helped move their belongings finally departed after Granddad paid them in cash. Huey waited outside, observing his new neighborhood. After a few moments of contemplating, Huey sighed as he stood up and started walking down the street, exploring the neighborhood in which he resided in. He decided to keep walking until he saw at least one Black person. Huey garnered a few eccentric stares as he walked down the street, as if these people have never seen a person with more pigment than themselves before. He felt like a foreigner in a new country, alone as he abandoned his old friends back in Chicago. Cairo was impudently disapproving when Huey told him he was moving to Maryland. When Huey finally said their goodbyes, Cairo took to looking for new friends to replace Huey, as he felt that Huey deserted him to go to "Whitecrest." Cairo was obviously bothered by his perception that Huey would actually abandon his roots and move into a neighborhood predominantly inhabited by influential White people. However, that was not the case; Huey would give anything to stay in Chicago. Unfortunately, he could not influence the decisions of his Grandfather. Cairo perceived this as Huey _allowing_ himself to sever connections from his roots.

Finally, after walking for an hour without seeing _one_ black neighbor, Huey abandoned any hope of seeing a neighbor who he could actually relate to and decided to walk back to his house. He must have walked about three or four miles, since these houses looked even _more_ elegant and more spacious than the house he just moved into. Huey sighed, disparaged by his explorations in hopes of looking for like-minded people. It was like looking for life in another _solar system_.

Huey, discouraged and ostracized, headed back to the house.

"There you are boy! I've been lookin for you. Now get in before you freeze yo toes off." Granddad exclaimed when he saw Huey at the door.

"What were you doing out there?"

"Granddad, not to sound ignorant or anything, but I don't like this place. The people here have a nasty disposition."

"Why would you say that, boy?"

"Because, they don't seem to like the idea of a Black family moving into their predominantly white neighborhood."

"You just don't feel like you're at home, don't you?"

"Granddad, I'm telling you. These people have been giving us strange looks since the moment we moved in here."

"Nonsense. I spoke to one neighbor today and they seemed nice."

"Granddad, I'm going to start a neighborhood klanwatch just in case we get into conflict with these people."

Granddad walked away the moment Huey spoke the word "klanwatch," muttering to himself about his grandson's half-wittedness. Huey shook his head and sighed, sitting down in a chair next to a window as snow began to fall again. He thought to himself, asking why people are so intolerant about other people who look different, think different, or act different. He finally settled that everybody in the world is naturally a bunch of bigots.

The next morning, Huey and Riley combed through their new neighborhood again, searching for a place where they could just hang out.

"Huey, what's that smell?" Riley asked, upon sniffing the odd air surrounding him.

"Clean air. My guess is we'll get used to it."

"I hope so. This place _stinks_."

As they walked down the sidewalk, Huey and Riley discussed about their new surroundings. This was a strange environment for someone who lived close to the hoods of Chicago.

"Riley, we're not in Chicago anymore. These people are well off, comfortable. These are not the hard streets of the South Side. You understand what I'm trying to say?"

"I'm the hardest, baddest thing for miles and I can run amok here without fear." Riley assumed, to which Huey tried to correct him.

Months passed before Huey would see another Black person again. The demographics in Woodcrest made it a slim, if not zero, chance of seeing another Black person in the vicinity. Huey felt as though he was secluded from his Black culture back in Chicago. He hated Woodcrest. But there was no way they would ever go back home, even if Riley wanted to hijack a Lexus to drive back to Chicago, Huey knew the odds of ever reconnecting with their roots again was slim.

It was April of the new millennium, and Huey finally got the chance to meet up with another person who thought like him. Finally, after several months of being exposed to the aristocratic nature of Woodcrest, Huey was about to lose hope until he met up with another ten-year-old Black kid with dreadlocks.

"Hey you! With the 'fro!"

Huey turned around to come face-to-face with the first Black kid he's seen in months. He was surprised when he actually saw someone with pigment.

"Huh?"

The Black dread-locked kid asked Huey where the other "people" were. Huey, assuming he was talking about Black people, told him there wasn't a black person for _miles_ until he showed up. Finally, after realizing Huey was actually talking to a real live Black person, Huey finally introduced himself.

"Huey Freeman."

"Michael Caesar. I just moved in down the street." Caesar said.

Huey realized there was an influx of Black people moving in to Woodcrest, some for better (exemplified by Michael Caesar), and some for worse. Huey was about to meet up with someone who was a mulatto, who also rejected their Black half. Nevertheless, Huey finally felt as though he found a new group of friends when a convergence of minorities took Woodcrest by storm, disrupting the social order of the White aristocracy.

Days after meeting up with Caesar, Huey was alerted by Riley about the interracial couple moving in to the vacant house across the street. The man, who was dressed in a blue suit and tie, looked like he belonged to The Establishment, even though he was Black. This well dressed African American seemed like he was out of touch with his African roots, and may have been called an Uncle Tom. Coincidentally, Huey learned this affluent African American's name _is_ Tom. His wife, whose name is Sarah, also looked like a patrician and was a White woman, confirming Huey's assumptions that Tom was indeed an Uncle Tom. Both Tom and Sarah were celebrated lawyers…the best in their profession. They often won close to one hundred percent of their cases, yet Tom often represented the prosecution due to his straight-laced personality induced by the fear of getting sodomized in prison, while Sarah represented the defendants, who believed it was her job to defend the oppressed from a judicial system that was riddled with a history of institutional racism. Their daughter, who could be considered White if it weren't for her huge puffy Afro wrapped inconspicuously into a ponytail, in a vain attempt to hide it, was slightly tanner than her mother.

"Um…excuse me, I just moved in across the street. My name is Jazmine, what's yours?"

Huey introduced himself before getting into an argument with Jazmine about whether she was Black or not. Jazmine claimed she descended from several bloodlines originating from several European nations before she stated she was half black. Huey took the opportunity to berate her for rejecting her African lineage and instead focusing more on her Eurocentric personality.

Jazmine Dubois was often divided on what her identity was. As a result felt as though people in Woodcrest already rejected her. Having already disenchanted Huey by telling him how she didn't want to be identified as a Black person seemed to make her as if she was ostracized by the new society she lived in. She was walking alone along the streets one day thinking to herself that she would never find any friends in the strange new world. Coincidentally, as if her prayers were answered, another girl welcomed her to Woodcrest.

Cindy McPhearson was from the other side of the neighborhood, where the nobles of Woodcrest resided. Cindy belonged to the one of the wealthiest families in Woodcrest, as her father was the Governor of Maryland while her mother was a prominent realtor. As a result, Cindy has literally never seen an African American in person before, which results in misguided stereotypes about them. Cindy in fact believed every Black person had to be a famous rapper, which led to her eagerness to meet Black people once she got wind of the news that minorities were moving into Woodcrest. Her father on the other hand, thought this was bad for Woodcrest as he believed declining property values, juvenile delinquency, and set-aside programs would ensue. Therefore, Governor McPhearson did not like the idea of Black people moving into Woodcrest, and often told Ed Wuncler I to set a strict code of who can come inside Woodcrest and who can go out. Cindy was oblivious to the politics of the influx of minorities, and instead greeted Jazmine once she saw the new girl around the block.

Cindy became an instant friend with Jazmine once she realized Jazmine was half-black. She became overly excited once Jazmine told her of other black people in the neighborhood, introducing her to Huey and Riley Freeman. Caesar, Huey and Riley condescendingly looked down upon this alliance of white (and mulatto) girls, but they managed to get along with each other. Huey actually gained an appreciation for Cindy when he saw her trounce Riley at basketball, which was impressive considering she was a white girl who outplayed his black brother. Although Jazmine was an emotionally distraught person, Huey actually gained an appreciation for Jazmine. Before he knew it, Huey was already on good terms with Jazmine even though their personalities were in stark contrast with each other. How they ever got along was a mystery even for Huey. He hypothesized opposites do attract, even if it meant conflicts were possible. Seeing that Jazmine was a naïve young girl, Huey went out of his way to make sure he protected her, which was something Huey would never do for other people he just met, and Jazmine allowed him to educate her about the nefarious world they live in. An unlikely – yet strong – friendship evolved between Huey and Jazmine, and would soon evolve into something more…

Caesar found the final piece to Huey's newest circle of friends. Hiro Otomo had a natural skill with turntables, which made for a good set of skills for disk jockeying. Caesar discovered Hiro one day when he saw the Japanese kid mixing and scratching out good beats in his open garage. Caesar walked up to Hiro and introduced himself, and subsequently emceed to the beats Hiro busted out. Caesar just had the impulse to bring Huey, boisterously claiming he found the "best DJ in Woodcrest." Huey, who thought Caesar was lying considering Woodcrest would never have the right people with the right skills for disk jockeying, skeptically followed Caesar to Hiro's garage. Amazed by Hiro's innate ability to bust out infectious beats using his turntables, Huey befriended Hiro. Before long, Huey, Riley, Caesar, Jazmine, Cindy, and Hiro became a tight circle of friends.

Once Huey's close circle of friends in Woodcrest was established, he finally felt as though the stigma of being ostracized in Woodcrest had melted away. For the first time in so long, Huey finally felt a strange feeling he hadn't felt since his beloved parents passed away…this strange feeling…it could be described as a comfortable one…it seemed like _stability_ was gradually returning in Huey's life. Huey embraced this feeling, and actually perceived Woodcrest as his new home. Though Huey still longed for Chicago, he finally found a tight group of friends who he could depend on to be there for him, no matter what kind of weather was upon them.

* * *

"Huey?"

"Huh?"

The 39-year-old Huey Freeman ended his reminiscing as he was interrupted by one of the advisors who followed him on his campaign through the Woodcrest neighborhoods. Huey realized he was staring at his old house. The sweet memories of uniting with his childhood friends still reverberated through his thoughts. Huey turned to his advisor.

"That house is for sale. Nobody lives there." His advisor bluntly stated.

"Well, let's go ahead and check out the place." Huey gestured toward his old house, eager to explore the inside of it. For the first time since returning to Woodcrest, Huey was encouraged to uncover some of his memories of his childhood.

Huey walked into the house and immediately, feelings of familiarity fell upon him. Although he could have sworn the house was larger the last time he saw it, it was exactly the way he left it when he was nineteen years old. The furniture in his old house was long gone, but the memories of Caesar, Cindy, Jazmine and Hiro coming over to visit him flashed before his eyes as he inspected the living room. It was there where he was trounced emphatically by Riley and Caesar in any game imaginable. Huey proceeded to the kitchen where Granddad would prepare his dinner everyday after he came home from school. He never liked his grandfather's cooking, not because the food tasted horrendous – the food was better than New Orleans soulfood, but because his grandfather's cooking was literally more _lethal_ than soulfood. Huey could stare at his grandfather's food and actually hear his own arteries clog within him.

Huey proceeded his inspection of his old house by walking up the stairs. He was met with his old room, where he had to share with his brother for four years until he was given his own room. Riley was forced to move out of their room and into the guest room when Granddad thought he was gay. Of course, Huey looked down on his Granddad's homophobia, but he also wanted his own room. When Granddad finally told Huey why Riley was moving into the guestroom, Huey knew he would be mentally scarred for life: his Granddad thought they were practicing sodomy on each other. At that instant, Huey regurgitated the contents of his stomach, to which Granddad concurred, "yep, it's nasty, but you won't be doin none of that homo stuff."

Huey opened his window and climbed onto the roof. He recalled doing this every night when he couldn't sleep, staring at the night sky that remained constant. The stars and the moon that shone down on him moved as the night wore on, but Huey memorized the constellations in the sky. It was the same constellations that Julius Caesar stared up at back when he was still alive. And now, Huey Freeman stared at the same sky, something that has always remained constant for millennia.

"Um, Huey?" His advisor called. He didn't realize his advisor was following him.

"Hm?" Huey responded, staring at the afternoon sky as he lay down on the roof.

"You still have a few more houses to campaign."

"Just give me time to gather my thoughts."

Huey remembered when Jazmine would join him on his rooftop. Usually, Huey wanted some alone time, but he quickly realized "alone" time was better spent with someone who could appreciate your company. Huey and Jazmine would lay there for hours, staring at the night sky without saying a word to each other. Shooting stars were often in the night sky, since Woodcrest's city lights were dim enough to allow observers to see more of the night sky than those living in Baltimore. Huey and Jazmine often wished upon seeing the shooting stars, remembering better days.

The sun began to set, as the sky turned into different hues of orange and red. His advisor called to Huey again, urging him to campaign in the last remaining houses in the neighborhood. But before Huey got up from his relaxing position, he saw an airplane glide in the twilight. He deluded the airplane as a shooting star, making one last wish before climbing through his window and returning to his campaign. Throughout the years, it was made cryptic to him why his friends left Woodcrest. They never revealed the afflictions that life threw at them. Huey wished he could know why most of his friends all deserted Woodcrest before senior year at Woodcrest High School even finished.

* * *

So what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Go ahead and review and give me your honest opinion. I absolutely value any criticism at all.  
Thanks!

-Ian


	4. Crossing the Rubicon

Crossing the Rubicon

_September 9__th__, 2005_

A sixteen-year-old Michael Caesar lay on a small hill just outside of the Woodcrest city limits. A few clouds nonchalantly wafted overhead, a few of which obstructed the sun, which gave Caesar an ephemeral reprieve from the abnormally hot September day's heat. The breeze wafted softly through Caesar's dreadlocks, mitigating the prickling sensation that often came when his long hair baked in the sun. An assortment of colorful butterflies fluttered near the ground in the immediate vicinity as Caesar initiated a train of thought. Life was perfect for him: he had a commodious house nestled in a great neighborhood in suburbia, providing ample amounts of living space whether inside his house or outside. Junior year of high school was commencing, yet he was fearless when he considered the enormity of the tasks ahead. He had five friends to assist him through that anyways. Anyways, what were friends for? Yup, it was just a picturesque Saturday morning in the perfect story of Caesar's life in a flawless world. Until…

"OWW!"

"Hi Caesar!"

"Jazmine, why'd you have to do that? I don't break _your_ ribs when _you're_ trying to relax!"

Jazmine Dubois, the most carefree girl Caesar has ever known, decided to impale him by plowing headfirst into Caesar's chest, interrupting his serene meditation. Though carefree, the seven years of exposure to Huey Freeman's convictions have done away with her ten-year-old naïveté and replaced it with a worldlier outlook of her surroundings. Although this meant she was headstrong, Huey has forever failed in turning her into a misanthropic carbon copy female clone of himself. Jazmine remained carefree, energetic, and optimistic, much to the chagrin of Huey. But hey, Huey was a fool into thinking he could perform a total makeover of somebody's personality, especially when Jazmine has the proclivity to have an abundance of energy and optimism.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"What, I can't come here without your permission?"

"No, as a matter of fact, you can't."

"Sheesh, who died and made you king of this hill?"

"Nobody, but it's my hill, and I found it first."

Jazmine scrunched her face in contemplation, rationalizing whom it was who found this hill first. It's been seven years since one of them found it, but if memory serves…

"No, Huey found this hill first. I remember when we were ten years old, and Huey would often come up here to read his books or newspapers."

The hill in question had a view overlooking the town of Woodcrest. This humbling view would evoke anyone to embrace an entire perspective of the big picture. Somebody who stood on the summit of this hill could see for miles, looking at other hills in the distance that Woodcrest was comfortably nestled within. The outlook was enough to make one realize they are just one stroke of paint in a masterpiece. A giant overgrown oak tree that probably sprouted centuries ago provided shade where one could sit adjacent to the trunk as the constant breeze kept the microclimate considerably cooler than the surroundings on a hot summer's day. This was an ideal place for somebody like Huey to ponder just about anything, as it was also the quintessential destination for somebody like Jazmine to escape the reality of living in an imperfect world.

Caesar, upon receiving Jazmine's proclamation that Huey was the one who discovered the hill couldn't think of any possible or logical way to assert his jurisdiction of his dominion over the hill.

"Well, Huey ain't here. So it's my hill."

"No fair! Huey and I always share this hill."

"Why are you here anyway? Don't you have a huge house and ideal parents who cater to your every need?"

Instantly, Jazmine's disposition went from mock debating cheeriness to downtrodden melancholy. Caesar was surprised when that one comment singlehandedly disheartened Jazmine. This was _Jazmine_ who became depressed. It was rare that anyone, much less Caesar, could dampen her invincible spirit.

"My parents are never home anymore."

Caesar, curious as to how anybody like Jazmine could get disenchanted, tried to delve into this revelation.

"Why?"

"I don't know. Sometimes my mom says she's in New York while my dad says he's taking a business trip. I mean, they're lawyers, but since when do _lawyers_ go on _business_ trips? And aren't they supposed to take cases _inside_ the state?"

"Hm, I don't see why not. But why are you so distraught about it? Most kids would _love_ to have their parents gone for a week or so."

"I know, but sometimes they're gone for longer than that. Sometimes my mom would be home while my dad is on his business trips. Sometimes my dad will be home while my mom's in New York. But most of the time, neither of them is here. It's like I don't have a mom or dad to come home to." Jazmine hung her head and stared at her feet as she sat up in the tall grass.

"Aw, well you can stay over at my house! I can be your daddy!" Caesar nudged Jazmine twice while winking at her. Jazmine scowled and hit Caesar upside the head.

"You're insensitive!"

"Well, at least I'm not the one overreacting about my parents!"

Jazmine stared at Caesar incredulously. Jazmine's parents were rarely, if ever, at home. Caesar on the other hand, has a mother that seems to inhabit his house twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Caesar had _no_ idea what it's like to be home alone for most of your life. Jazmine had to cook her own food most times, or order food from local restaurants with the credit card Tom and Sarah gave to her. Whenever Jazmine came home, six out of the seven days of the week, either Tom or Sarah would be home, and if she were lucky, both would be there at the same time. Whenever Jazmine returns from school, she arrives at an empty house with nobody to talk to about her life's problems. As a child, Jazmine used to be especially close to her parents but in recent years, her parents were so distant that she seemed to lack the same bonding she had seven years before. Conversely, Caesar would come home from school with a hot meal on the table and a mother to engage conversation with. He was never alone, and could always vent his life's frivolous problems to somebody who he could count on to listen. His life was just perfect. He could never understand Jazmine's problem.

"You don't understand. You never will."

"Maybe, but I'm just Michael Caesar. What the hell do _I_ know?"

"You know what, I'm just gonna go." And with that, Jazmine stood up and promptly walked down the hill, heading back to town.

"Fine. So does that mean this hill is mine?"

"Absolutely not!" Jazmine stuck her tongue out at Caesar and proceeded to the base of the hill.

Minutes later, Huey and Riley came up the hill, Huey carrying a pair of headphones with his mp3 player, a newspaper, and a book about dream psychology and interpretations of it and Riley carrying a big attitude with him.

"Sup Ceez?"

"Nuthin much, what you up to?"

"Reading, relaxing. The usual."

"Aye! Huey, move yo big ass head out my sight! It's fuckin up the view!"

Huey sighed as Riley copped an attitude at him, pretending that Riley wasn't standing there as he placed his headphones over his ears and opened his newspaper.

"Aye! Why yo head so big? Damn! It's so big nobody can see past it from a mile away!"

Huey sighed once again before retorting, offering his explanation of the enormity of his head.

"Because I have an afro, okay?"

Bad choice. Instead of just ignoring Riley like he was supposed to and letting the whole situation blow over, Huey only instigated Riley further, as he always had a snide remark for anything thrown at him.

"Naw Huey, yo hair ain't what make yo head so big. Don' even try ta blame ya 'fro, 'cause even if you cut yoself bald, yo _astronomical_-sized head would still be big enough ta cause a solar eclipse on da _moon_!"

"Riley…do you even _know_ how much of an idiot you are?"

"Aye, at least I'm smart 'nuff ta know yo head is big enough to fit _four _Jupiters."

"Case in point."

"Nigga, what?"

Before any more verbal artillery was fired between the two, Caesar decided to cut in, rescuing Huey from engaging in a verbal war with his brother about his the degree of enormity his head is.

"You know, it's really hot outside. It's really irritating because my hair itches when the sun heats up my head."

"Yeah, not to mention it gives people body odor." Huey tried, deciding to shift his attention from his brother to Caesar, whom he might engage in a more productive conversation with.

"Huey, yo B.O. stank so bad, I wish al-Qaeda crashed a plane full of deodorant into yo armpit." Caesar retorted. He couldn't help it, he just could never hold back a joke no matter how boorish it seemed.

"Caesar, your hair is so long that when somebody sees you in the men's bathroom, they walk out embarrassed because they thought it was the _girl's_ bathroom."

"Aww, don't even play with me bout my hair. 'Cause if anyone has the weirdest hairstyle, it's you."

"Whatever."

And with that, Huey turned up the volume of his mp3 player and opened his newspaper. It's official: Huey had nowhere to turn for a reliable and introspective conversation. He was officially surrounded by idiots. Maybe if he opened the newspaper and read an intelligent article on FEMA's slow response to Hurricane Katrina, then the idiocy of the world around him would abscond…if only it were that easy. The irony was that he was reading an article about the imbecility and incompetence of the Federal government's failure to provide an alacritous response for basic needs. Yup, Huey was absolutely surrounded by mentally compromised idiots.

Jazmine Dubois turned the key in the lock and opened the front door to her house after walking home from the hill. Since it was a Saturday, she decided to go ahead and do her homework since there was nothing else to do. Or maybe she could bring her homework over to Huey's house across the street and they could hang out while doing their homework. As she pushed the door open, Jazmine was immediately greeted by a flash of blonde hair, which took her by surprise.

"Cindy? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, nothing. Just decided to come over and hang out a bit. But then I realized nobody was here so I decided to raid your refrigerator. You know, you guys are loaded! I should come here more often!"

Although Jazmine was always home alone with nobody to talk to, her best friend was often at Jazmine's house, probably more so than at her own house. Cindy McPhearson was from a rich family who lived on the other side of the neighborhood complete with a mansion bigger than twice the size of Jazmine's house, butlers who catered to Cindy's every need no matter how outlandish they may seem, enough entertainment to last several lifetimes, and a sports complex in her enormous backyard. Of course, this is the life that is harvested from her father being the governor of the state and her mother being the top realtor in her real estate corporation. Cindy seemed to have more privileges than responsibilities. That is the type of life any celebrity lives in, yet for reasons unknown, Cindy spent more of her time at the Dubois residence than at the McPhearson residence. Jazmine never seemed to mind, since Cindy was always welcome to fill the void of loneliness derived from her parents' absence. In fact, in recent years, Cindy was closer to Jazmine than either Tom or Sarah. Cindy was like a sister to Jazmine while Tom and Sarah were relegated to distant relatives. Even the guestroom became Cindy's primary bedroom since she often slept at the Dubois residence whenever she refused to return to her house, acting suspiciously as if she had a severe aversion to returning to her residence.

"So Jazzy J, what's on our agenda for today?"

"Nothing but homework, I guess."

"Lame. I know!" Cindy snapped her fingers at Jazmine triumphantly, "Let's go to the mall! We could shop and eat there too!"

"Cindy, I have my priorities."

"Aw, c'mon! You need to liven up sometimes. All you do is barricade yourself in your bedroom and pretend like the world around you doesn't exist. You need to lighten up and socialize!"

Jazmine sighed. Her best friend did have a point. Besides, Jazmine hasn't done much to divert the sudden stress creeping into her life. "Sure, I guess. It's only Saturday. I can always do my homework tomorrow."

And with that, Jazmine and Cindy drove downtown to the mall. Meanwhile, Riley decided to leave Huey and Caesar at the hill since Caesar wasn't doing anything but looking at the clouds while Huey was listening to his music while reading his book. Weary by Huey and Caesar's inactivity, Riley deserted them and started walking towards the city to catch a movie and probably bootleg it to make money. His perception of "investment" was paying a few dollars on a movie ticket while sneaking in there with a video camera and making copies of his bootleg. Riley would subsequently sell the bootleg for a competitive price, which resulted in revenue where he gained significantly more money compared to his initial investment in a movie ticket. It was his way of earning income, and Uncle Sam never taxed him for it.

"Ya'll niggas are boo-ring! I'm gonna catch me a flick. See ya."

"Riley, if you're going to bootleg a movie, don't do it." Huey warned.

"Nigga, what do I look like to you? I ain't no straight-laced uncle Tom, Huey. I don't care what you think. I'm bootlegging a flick. A nigga's gotta get sum paper."

"Fine, but if Uncle Ruckus catches you again, you're going straight to prison because it's a violation of copyright law, which means you're committing a felony –"

"Blah, blah, blah. Nigga, I don't give a damn if I'm violating copyrights or copylefts, I needs to gets sum paper!"

Huey stared at Riley as he made his way down the hill. Someday, Riley is going to get in big trouble, and Huey is going to be the one to bail him out. Hopefully that day wasn't today. Huey had better things to do than save his nefarious brother's ass.

Riley stood in line at the box office, looking for the movie he wanted to bootleg. Wearing a large coat to conceal his camera, Riley was confident about his business. Without warning, someone behind him grabbed his shoulder and swiftly turned Riley around to meet face-to-face with a large Black man that was about Riley's height and probably looked the same age as him. He looked like a disheveled thug who was suffering the withdrawal symptoms from the addiction of some sort of drug.

"Aye, ya got sum crack?"

Judging by the way Riley looked, this sorry person probably thought he was a crack dealer. He must have been without the drug for a time intolerable by his body's dependency, because he was convulsing as if he desperately needed a dose right now. Although this was probably the most inopportune time, especially since there were people who were literally standing within earshot, he still had the audacity to even ask a stranger in a public area.

"What do I look like? A punk-ass nigga? No I ain't got no crack!"

"Shh! Don't say it out loud! You wanna squeal on me, little nigga?"

"Naw, snitchin ain't my style."

"Good. Aye, then why you dressed that way in this kinda weather?"

"'Cause I bootleg the flicks. I sneak in wit dis camera dat I hide in dis coat, and I sell copies. It's my way of makin' paper."

"Dat's cool, little man. You know, I's about to go see Snakes on a Plane, think I can get a bootleg?"

"Damn, I was about to go bootleg Pirates of the Carribean 'cause you know how bitches love dat dude Jack Sparrow or whateva da hell his name is…Johnny Depp. Gives me more of a profit."

"Den you can bootleg that movie and after dat you could go into the other cinema room without paying another ticket and bootleg my movie."

Riley thought about it, and agreed. After agreeing on the price of the bootleg, the thug introduced himself.

"You know, yous a cool nigga. I like dat. My name's Marcus. We could use a few niggas like you around."

Riley looked at Marcus with curiosity, "Who's 'we'?"

"Me and my gang. Man, we's about to take over da streets of Bawl'more. We da baddest gang in Maryland, and since yous a real nigga, I think I should recruit you. You interested?"

"Dayum, I didn't know dere were real gangs up here in dis bullshit town. You forreal?"

"Do I look like I'm shittin you? Yeah, we're forreal."

Riley's eyes widened upon realizing the prospect of becoming an actual gangsta. He's always been talking about becoming the biggest, baddest gangsta in Maryland, but for the past seven years there has been no follow-through. Riley could never find a real gang in Woodcrest, especially since it was like finding a needle in a haystack. Woodcrest was too affluent to even harbor gangs within its city limits, therefore, Riley has never joined a gang…but it wasn't because of the lack of gangs in Woodcrest, it was because he was searching in all the wrong places. There was a multitude of gangs thirty minutes away in Baltimore. He just overlooked the concentration of gangs up there for the past seven years.

Riley finally snapped back to reality when he realized Marcus was asking him a question.

"You wanna join or not?"

"Yea! I couldn't believe it, I mean I ain't never seen a gang 'round hurr. Know what I mean?"

"Psh, you been lookin in da wrong places, dawg. By da way, what do you do for a living?"

"I done told you, I make bootlegs."

"Naw, I mean you have a legitimate job?"

"Nigga, I'm the Resident of the United States. Dat's what I do."

"You know, you is one okay nigga. By the way, you haven't told me your name."

"The name's Freeman. Riley Freeman."

It was already dusk and the sun sunk below the landscape, obscured by the hills in the distance. Huey and Caesar was still sitting at the same exact spot on the hill overlooking Woodcrest, relaxing for the entire Saturday. After all, weekends were meant for tranquilizing and winding down after a long week of consigned labor. The sky turned awe-inspiring hues of orange, yellow, and red where the sun was setting which signaled nightfall was upon them. Huey and Caesar set a new personal record for sitting in the same spot doing nothing – this was uncharacteristic of Huey, who always had the predisposition to do something productive instead of wasting away yet Caesar was the one who insisted on Huey to relax for the entire Saturday, since Huey has a history for leading stressful lifestyle during the school year. The air finally cooled down as the sun's radiance moved on to the eastern hemisphere of the world. As the sun no longer provided luminosity to the world, Woodcrest's edifices began to light up and the headlights of cars began to glow, forming lines of pairs of lights along the roads below.

"Caesar, it's getting late. We haven't done a thing except sit on this hill." Huey proclaimed as he got up from under the oak tree and began to walk to the base of the hill.

"Aw, come on Huey. You gotta be laid back if you wanna be stress free."

"Can't. I just have a bad feeling about something. A premonition."

"Huey, you always have a bad feeling about _something_. Come on, at least relax for a minute."

"I'm going home to relax. My Granddad's probably thinking I wound up killed by some terrorist or something."

"Alright. I guess it is getting late. Shoot, I should probably go help my ma cook some dinner." Caesar replied, already drooling at the prospect of eating chitlins for dinner.

Huey and Caesar walked to the base of the hill and walked in the direction of their neighborhood. After a few minutes, the entrance of the neighborhood was within sight and they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways on the arterial road of their neighborhood.

Huey reached his house, nestled within the neighborhood. He walked up to the front door and unlocked it, walking into the darkened entrance. Huey assumed his Granddad was out on another date, possibly with a dysfunctional woman like his previous dates for the past several years. Granddad had a predisposed affinity towards dating since time immemorial, but the only thing wrong was that he could never find a date that didn't have psychological or even physical aberrations. Either they looked way too ugly for Granddad (having believed the e-harmony pictures were actual photos of themselves), or they were attractive yet had a psychopathic tendency.

Huey walked up the stairs and noticed the light in Riley's room was on; signifying Riley was home from bootlegging movies. Sure enough, when Huey peeked his head into Riley's room, his younger brother was already on his computer trying to make copies onto fifty discs of his bootlegged movie. Huey shook his head and went into his room, closing the door behind him and placed his headphones back in his ear, listening to his music in peace as he finished off his remaining homework. Sure enough, peace was ephemeral in the Freeman residence…

"Aye." Riley tried to interject, but Huey's headphones were too loud for his older brother to notice his presence.

"AYE!" Riley held one of Huey's headphones and shouted into his exposed ear, subsequently snapping the headphone back into Huey's ear, which effectively slapped his eardrum. Huey could hear ringing as a result of the Riley's attention-grabbing antics.

Huey grabbed his headphone and threw it onto his desk out of frustrated exasperation, and turned around to give Riley a sharp, murderous glare.

"What now?" Huey asked, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice yet failing in the process.

"You wanna buy a bootleg?"

"No, I'd rather gouge my eyes out than waste money on mediocre, unpolished, and unprofessional bullshit you pass off as a bootleg. Get out of my sight."

"Dayum. Yous a hater. Keep on hatin'…you gonna get an ass wuppin someday by my gang if you don't play ya cards right."

Huey's face contorted first into blatant abhorrence, but then thought about what Riley said. Fearing about the prospects of Riley falling into the same trap that killed his father, Huey asked once more.

"What did you say?" Huey asked, unable to keep the urgent tone out of his voice.

"Nigga, I joined a gang today. I got ta meet the head nigga in charge and he's a real nigga. Ain't like the bitch ass people who lives in this dump."

Huey's greatest fears were instantly confirmed. If history repeats itself, which has a knack for doing, then Riley will end up sharing the same fate with his unfortunate father, dying in a calamitous event involving either guns, drugs, internal conflicts, or other gang-related complications. Unnerving images were elicited in Huey's mind, eerily reminding that Riley was about to take the path his father ended up taking. Huey had to put a stop to this before he ended up witnessing yet another traumatic loss of family…losing his parents was enough to make Huey a misanthropic paranoid…what more if he were to suffer witnessing his brother get slaughtered in the same fashion his parents died?

"Riley. I don't want you intermingling with that gang, you understand?"

"WHAT!" Riley shouted, absolutely disgusted at what he perceived was his brother's homosexuality at its finest. "Nigga, you _gay_? I've been trying to join a gang since we moved to this bullshit town. I ain't letting your gay ass influence my decisions! It's been seven years, Huey! _Seven_ years! I finally found a group of people who understand who I is! And I ain't lettin' you take dat away from me!"

Riley was obviously unnerved by his brother's disdain for what he considers a role model for young Black males. He continued to lash out at Huey, not even bothering to notice Huey's increasingly melancholy expression. Huey tried to hide his sorrow behind a mask of irritancy by pinching the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes so Riley couldn't see the moisture building, and shaking his head in disapproval.

"Riley, listen to me." Huey's voice was somber, obviously distraught by Riley's ignorance to his father's fate "I don't want you ending up in the same situation our father faced. You remembered what happened seven years ago, don't you?"

Riley contorted his face, as he was deep in thought. He thought long and hard about their parents' death, but for whatever reason, he couldn't even bring himself to remember what exactly happened. He was only seven years old! But then he remembered…he was reluctant to go into the house at the time, so he stood by the front door when Huey ran into the living room. All Riley ever heard was a gunshot, and then the subsequent plaintive cries from his older brother. He never witnessed the deaths of either of his parents, which spared him the emotional trauma Huey had to deal for the rest of his life. Riley was relatively untouched by the fact that his parents were dead, which helped preserve his naiveté and ignorance of childhood, while Huey took the brunt of the trauma and childish tendencies were shattered in a split second.

"Nigga, look. I know our parents died dat day. But still, dat shit ain't happenin to a real nigga like me. I promise." Riley responded.

Huey didn't take this news very well. Obviously showing a lot more emotion in the moment than he would in an entire _month_, he let a tear roll down his cheek. Huey was facing the prospect of losing his brother in the same manner he lost his parents. What's worse, Riley was _oblivious_ to the deaths of his parents. He could no longer hide his sorrow…it was becoming more conspicuous each passing second that Riley spewed blasphemy from his mouth.

"Alright…" Riley was obviously uncomfortable by watching his older brother weep. Why not? Riley has never seen Huey cry since that fateful day. "I'm gonna go now. You go fix yo homosexuality, ya hear?"

Huey slumped back into his chair as Riley softly shut the door behind him. He tilted his head backwards as he sniffled. He opened his weary eyes again, staring at the homework that he suddenly didn't have the energy to do. A few more tears developed in his eyes, obscuring his vision. He wiped them with his sleeves, pondering about his doomed brother.

"Why can't Riley understand what happened that day?"

"Why is Riley so oblivious to the consequences of gangs?"

"_Why doesn't Riley respect our parents' deaths?"_

Huey made a promise to himself that he will halt Riley from becoming a fully-fledged gang member. If that failed, Huey made another promise to himself to never allow Riley to end up in the same fate as his parents…or die trying.

Jazmine and Cindy arrived back to the Dubois residence after a good day of hanging out in the mall. After dropping Jazmine off, Cindy said her farewell and drove off, heading back to her house. It's probably been a week since Cindy has slept in her own bedroom, but she decided against sleeping at Jazmine's house. Waving at her best friend as she drove into the night, Jazmine turned towards her house, where she was surprised to find her mother's car parked in the driveway and the lights inside the house lit. She was excited at the possibility of having her parents at home for tonight, especially since it's always an ephemeral stay whenever Sarah or Tom was home. But what Jazmine was about to see would make her instantly change her mind about going home…ever.

As Jazmine made her way up the steps leading to the front door, she peered through the window. She was shocked not because she saw her mother through the open window…she because she saw her mother talking to another person. Jazmine immediately realized that her mother was engaged in emphatic conversation with someone who was not her father. Her mother smiled a special smile that Jazmine has not seen for the past few years…it was the kind of smile that Jazmine only saw when her mother was about to be kissed by her father. Only this time, Tom was nowhere to be seen…within moments, Jazmine saw her mother slowly close her eyes as the mysterious man leaned forward slowly and kissed Sarah Dubois. It was the kind of kiss that was shared only between a passionate married couple who seemed to know each other forever. Jazmine let out an audible gasp as she dropped her bags and spilled its contents onto the pavement below. Some glassware shattered onto the walkway, but Jazmine didn't care about it anymore. Tears welled up in her eyes and cascaded onto her cheeks. Sarah, noticing the shattering noise outside, looked at her stunned daughter and immediately realized the trauma that she inadvertently caused. Sarah immediately rushed to the door and raced towards the frozen Jazmine. She embraced her daughter, trying to comfort Jazmine. Jazmine pushed her mother away forcefully. She could never forgive her mother for what just happened. Thousands of thoughts raced within Jazmine's mind. _How could she even think of doing this? _Jazmine let out a sob before taking off into the night, blindly racing as Sarah called after her. Those plaintive calls would fall on deaf ears as Jazmine continued to race away from the mother who betrayed her. Tears continued to cascade as she ran away, her destination unknown.

After a few minutes of navigating through residential roads, Cindy finally arrived back to her mansion. It seemed like arriving at a visitor's house, especially since Cindy rarely called this home. She walked out of her car and locked it as she walked up the long steps to the grand and elegant front door to her house. When she walked in, she could hear a discordant yelling match that pitted her father and mother. Cindy sighed, typical of her parents to argue. This was exactly one of the ulterior reasons why Cindy stayed over at the Dubois residence. But it wasn't the only one…

"HEY! Where the _hell _have you been, young lady!" Mr. McPhearson shouted upon seeing his daughter. Cindy didn't say a thing, learning through experience not to even acknowledge her father's existence, whether or not he was talking to you.

"Leave her out of this! She didn't do a thing!"

"YOU! Don't you tell me how to run a family! I run the goddamned state of Maryland, for god's sake!"

"That's why she's never home! It's because of you and your dictatorial, tyrannical way of handling a family!"

"Shut up! I don't want to hear it! You! Cindy, get over here!"

Cindy reluctantly walked over to her father, who promptly applied a harsh slap on her face. Cindy fought the urge to strike back…she was Cindy "Fearsome" McPhearson after all…but not in her parents presence.

"Why are you never home? HUH?"

Cindy received another brute slap, with enough force to send her stumbling backwards into a bust of Julius Caesar, which resulted in both Cindy and the bust to come crashing onto the floor. The sculpture shattered into a million pieces.

"That's it, you've crossed the Rubicon!"

Her father threw the bottle of beer he held in his left hand, barely missing Cindy. The bottle exploded a few inches from where she was, spraying her with shards of glass and the same liquid that granted her father the right to act like an insane psychopath.

"Stop hurting her! You are abusing a child and if you lay another finger on her again, I will get you impeached!"

Instantly, Mrs. McPhearson was impaled with yet another bottle of beer that Mr. McPhearson held in his right hand. This was exactly the reason why Cindy avoided sleeping in her own house…because she ran the risk of her alcoholic father beating her to death in the night. What's worse, the butlers acted as if they never saw a thing, especially since impeachment of Governor McPhearson would result in the loss of their employer. This meant any information about child abuse in the McPhearson household was immediately covered up and bottled up. What goes on inside the mansion stays in the mansion. Anybody would say Cindy has it good, while in fact, nothing could be further from the truth; Cindy had to put up with her dysfunctional family…and the worse thing about it, her friends never knew anything about it. Not even her best friend, Jazmine.

Cindy stood up as her parents bickered, spotting a bust of George Washington next to her. Her father was wildly waving the broken beer bottle, as if he did not realize the dangers of slashing someone with it. Cindy picked up the bust of George Washington and with a swift throwing motion, launched it towards her oblivious father. The bust fragmented into a million pieces in a cacophonous thunderclap, impaling her father's head. The immediate impact left caused her father to collapse onto the floor, lying comatose. Cindy and her mother gasped, staring at the immobile Mr. McPhearson lying stupefied on the floor.

"Cindy! Why did you do that?" Her mother grabbed Cindy with both her shoulders and shook her wildly. "Why?"

"Mom! He was about to kill us! I had to stop him!"

"He is your father! You don't throw things at him!"

"Did you not see he was doing?" Cindy asked, looking at her mother incredulously.

"Cindy, listen to me. That is your father! You are supposed to love him!"

"And he's supposed to love me! But instead he wants to abuse us to death!"

"You don't understand –"

"No, _you_ don't understand. Look, I'm going" Cindy promptly turned towards the door but before she left, she turned to her mother to say something "I'm not just gonna sit around and wait until he decides to kill me. I'm staying over at Jazmine's."

Cindy slammed the door before her mother could formulate a response. It only took Cindy a few seconds to climb into her car and pull out of the driveway, the tires squealing against the pavement as Cindy took off into the night. Cindy always wondered why her mother was so attached to him. Her mother was deluded to the point where the dysfunctional reality of their marriage never occurred to cross her mind. It was when Cindy was only a five-year-old girl when her true father died in a car crash. Sure enough, her mother was lonely and courted Mr. McPhearson. Cindy never trusted him and never referred him as her father. Her family has been on a downward spiral ever since.

Hiro Otomo spun the turntable in his garage, trying to produce an infectious beat but failed, as he grew more and more frustrated in himself. He stared at a picture of his brother lying on the turntable, who passed away years ago when he was confronted outside a nightclub where he disc jockeyed. Hiro's brother taught him the fundamentals of turntables, and often showed him DJ skills it seemed nobody would ever be able to match. But ever since his brother passed away, Hiro took it upon himself to continue his brother's legacy, as he developed a passion for becoming a DJ. Hiro used his brother as inspiration to keep up with his music skills, even through the stark disapproval of his parents. Before Hiro was even born, Mr. and Mrs. Otomo already predetermined for Hiro to become a doctor. They looked at music as if it was an abomination, and only approved of Hiro practicing his music skills when they believed Hiro was only doing it as a hobby. After a few hours of composing music, Hiro finally relented and went walked into the dining room to eat. Hiro decided to let his parents in on his aspirations after holding back for many years. It was his passion, so why wouldn't his parents back him for it?

"So Hiro, how are your grades at school?" His mother asked. She was a high-ranking accountant in the large conglomerate that employed her. Thus, she spoke in unbroken English, and was eloquent with her choice of words.

"Fine." Hiro responded. He couldn't think of a way to direct this conversation to his aspirations into becoming a DJ.

"They better. You get good grade, you go to Princeton." His father retorted. Unlike Mrs. Otomo, he spoke in broken English since he arrived to the United States only recently.

Hiro couldn't bear to withhold his deepest aspirations, and he couldn't put it any more bluntly to tell his parents what he wanted to do with his life.

"Mom? Dad? I don't want to go to Princeton."

For a minute, both of his parents exchanged glances and tried to make meaning out of the toxic words that spewed out of Hiro's mouth. But then, they rationalized, believing Hiro was actually aiming for something better.

"You don't like Princeton? That's fine, son. Princeton's ranking is exaggerated; if your ambitions are higher, then you can apply to Harvard. You know, my alma mater is Harvard, and I took up an exquisite apprenticeship as during my studies for the accounting degree."

"Mom, I don't want to go to Harvard either."

When both of Hiro's parents gave him a look of inquisition, Hiro decided to expound on his intentions.

"Mom…Dad…I want to focus on my music. You know, like becoming a DJ and maybe emcee as well."

"WHAT! I can't believe what come out of son's mouth!" His dad blurted out, obviously taken aback by Hiro's biting words. His mother shook her head and tried to reason with her child.

"Son, becoming a DJ isn't all it's worked up to be. Look at your brother. He decided to become a DJ and he died a shameful death outside a nightclub."

"Yeah! He a disgrace!"

"My brother was _not_ a disgrace! You don't understand –" Hiro was immediately cut off by his mother, who didn't want to hear another word out of her son.

"No _you_ don't understand, Hiro! Your brother only became a DJ because he had no other choice! He flunked out of school so he relied on music as a last resort. You on the other hand have a future. Look, you have good grades. I don't understand why you're going to throw that away to pursue a shameful career."

"No!" Hiro interjected, "My brother had a passion for music! Just because you don't respect his decisions doesn't mean you can force your ideals onto someone. And I have a passion for music too! I think you can agree that if you are happy doing your job, then shame or fame won't matter."

"Happy? You be happy as doctor! You make millions! When you doctor, you be happy with your money!" Hiro's father retorted.

Hiro couldn't believe it, his parents not only bludgeoned his aspirations to pieces, but they also degraded his brother, whom Hiro looked up to for inspiration and as a role model. He could not believe the harrowing words that stabbed his eardrum when his parents continued to take his brother's image and make it out to be dastardly archetype of failure.

"You know what? I don't want to hear you on your table turning…or whatever you call it –"

"Turntables,"

"Whatever. And I don't want you to take your music instruments to college either! I want you to focus more on important things that will benefit your life."

"What!" Hiro could already feel the moisture fill his eyes as his parents continued their rampant destruction of his passion. Unrelentingly annihilating his perceptions of his brother while also taking away any outlet for music, his parents atrociously took Hiro's passion under siege.

Hiro promptly got up from his chair, claiming he was no longer hungry and raucously stomped up the stairs and swiftly slammed the door, causing the windows to reverberate throughout his house. He collapsed onto his bed in exasperation, somberly thinking to himself. Even though he had exceptional grades that anyone vying a spot at a prestigious university in the nation, what was the point? Of course he could become a successful doctor, but he didn't care about that. His passion was firmly invested in music, and he knew he was blissful when it came to scratching records on the turntables. But when it came to doing rounds at a hospital and checking up on patients, Hiro couldn't be any more melancholy at the prospect of being surrounded by terminal, dying people. If Hiro could make people exultant with his music rather than bereave the same people with his diagnosis, he would rather make himself and other people around him happy. He wanted to carry on a legacy his brother left for him, not become an empty soul just for the sake of money.

Caesar finished helping his mother prepare dinner, which included his favorite food, chitlins. He had known how much his best friend Huey abhorred chitlins, yet he couldn't help but feel entranced as the pig intestines filled his stomach with a feeling of euphoria. He often compared chitlins to something that is powerful enough to make any feeling of depression harbored in someone disappear upon the first bite taken. Huey on the other hand, lampooning Caesar's comments concerning chitlins, sarcastically compared chitlins to nicotine and methamphetamine, with the potential to not only give you "the _itis_, but also heighten your chances of dying from heart attack _and_ blight a previously affluent neighborhood," referring to his past experiences of his Granddad opening a restaurant that singlehandedly turn an affluent part of Woodcrest into a slum while also endangering the health of several patrons and racking up class-action lawsuits all the while.

After Caesar emphatically consumed his "treacherous" chitlins, his mind began to ponder on the frivolous problems he faced in his life, especially when junior year of his High School tenure was just commencing. Caesar pondered on the inconvenience of still relying on his best friend, Huey to give him a ride to school. Often times, Huey had the audacity to wake up several hours early doing god knows what and leave unreasonably early just to go to school, which conflicted Caesar's notorious schedule of waking up at the last minute for school, subsequently reducing Caesar's alternate options for the school since Huey had already departed for school hours prior. It was official: he desired…no, not only desired, but _required_ a car to ensure his success as an upperclassman at his high school.

"Mom, I thought about this, and I think I'm going to need a car so I can have a ride to school everyday." Caesar cut in.

His mother's face immediately fell into a somber expression, as if she did not have the ability to fulfill Caesar's wishes. Of course, Caesar had thought nothing of this, especially when he knew his mother had an enormous reserve of wealth flowing in from her job as well as in the banks. Caesar was about to get a rude epiphany, just receiving news he though he would never hear during his tenure of walking this earth.

"Caesar, I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Why? Mom, don't worry, I'll be the one who will deal with the maintenance and the gasoline."

"It's not that, it's just…" Her words trailed off. Caesar looked on precariously, half expecting her to say something along the lines that he is still too young and/or too immature to handle the ownership of a car.

"Caesar, please understand. But we can't afford a car at this moment."

"What do you mean 'we can't afford a car'?"

"I lost my job –"

"Then you can get another one! Mom, your resume is big enough to make even _Bill Gates_ drool!" Caesar interrupted, not allowing his mother to finish the most pertinent part of the sentence.

"Seven months ago." His mother finished. She placed her face in her hands in resignation, and then looked up to see eye-to-eye with her son, whose jaw hung unhinged with an incredulous expression etched onto his face. Caesar immediately ceased his lobbying for a car, instead focusing on his mother's parlous revelation.

"Mom…why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry. But I think it's time I let you know."

"So how is it that we're still under this roof?"

"Caesar, our money held up for the first three months. We no longer have any money in our savings accounts. We are in debt. I might consider withdrawing from my retirement accounts, but there will be consequences if we go down that road."

"Mom…all this time we've been living under a false sense of security?"

Caesar's mother winced upon that realization. She couldn't even bring herself to agree with Caesar's statement, no matter how true they are.

"I can get a job…I can help you pay off our debt."

"You don't worry about anything. Look, I want you to focus on graduating from high school. Don't you worry about anything. I will get this out of this mess. I promise."

"But mom –"

"No Caesar. Even if you do get a job, it still would not help us out of this. We're in too deep. I don't want you to get involved in this."

Caesar looked down at his empty plate. Minutes ago, he was about to wolf down another enormous helping of chitlins, but now he couldn't even gather the willpower to put another bit of food on his plate. Caesar became downtrodden, a rarity since even the quintessentially pessimistic Huey Freeman couldn't manage to bring him down. His mother interrupted his melancholy thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Caesar. But we've crossed the Rubicon. We can't turn back from this mounting debt." His mother finished, and resigned to the defeat of the calamitous situation at hand as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

It was at this point where Caesar realized the surreal life he had been living was only a gimmick. The realization of the enigmatic problems that were concealed by a picturesque lifestyle was enough to evoke guilt in Caesar. He felt culpable for feeling happy as his mother was languishing in financial debt. Caesar hung his head as his mother's words hit him with the revelation and his life was turned upside down in one instant. It seemed ironic considering this morning he was enjoying an immaculate life as he relaxed on the hill. And at that instant, his perceptions of a good life came crashing down around him…he apprehensively felt his life was about to change his life forever.

_We've crossed the Rubicon._

Caesar perceived he was the only one traversing these nefarious uncharted territories. Nothing could be further from the truth as he never realized his five other friends were about to follow him into an uncertain future. Only thing was, they were never aware they were all navigating into precarious weather…a tempest that would sever the once infallible connections between them.

* * *

I'd like to thank DaveTheWordsmith, iAnneart01, and MissG2020 for your reviews from last chapter! I really appreciate it!

Ugh. I had this chapter finished days ago, but I just have the impulse to tweak it a little. I don't know if this is what I wanted, but it'll do. So at this point, the story begins to pick up. Usually I don't do spoiler alerts, but the next few chapters should shed some light on the drama unraveling between Huey and the gang. Anyway, I just finished writing the outline for this story, so I pretty much mapped everything. I just need to write the chapters, which should be easy for me if it weren't for my damned writer's block...and my atrociously tight schedule. But I'll assure you I will update weekly with proofread chapters.

So anyways, please review this chapter! It always helps to supply an author with your thoughts and constructive criticism. Thanks!

-Ian

Disclaimer: _The Boondocks are owned by Aaron McGruder, the Universal Press Syndicate, and Sony Pictures Television._


	5. Terminal

Terminal

A few beams of sunlight radiated through the curtain, striking Huey Freeman's face as he peacefully slept in his bed at a lavish hotel room in Woodcrest, his chest rising and falling slowly yet steadily as he somnolently wandered deeper into his world of dreams. Huey lay on his back, his head resting gently on the pillow, his hands on his stomach, and his two feet poking through the blanket. The sun's rays illuminated Huey's face, which made him acquire an ethereal façade as he rested tranquilly. Two of his advisors quietly entered through the door, inspecting their boss and grabbing a few parcels of paperwork that were left on the desk next to the window the night before. With particulates of dust suspended in the air, the midmorning sun's golden rays were made discernable as they emanated from the golden incandescent openings through the curtain.

The ruffling of the paperwork culminated by an advisor inspecting it caused Huey to involuntarily crack his eyes open slightly and momentarily take a deep breath, before returning back to a slumberous state. His partially opened dark auburn eyes glinted in the sunlight as he fell back into a slumber. The advisor charged with scrutinizing Huey turned to the other advisor and made a cutthroat gesture to him as he blundered through the papers. Yet nothing would stifle the agitation as Huey's cell phone rang, breaking the peace and tranquility that took residence in the hotel room only minutes before which coerced Huey into a permanent state of alertness.

"Goddamn, can I get _one _minute where I could sleep in silence?" Huey asked softly, his eyes remaining closed yet his eyebrows tightly stitched together into a scowl. He remained unmoving in his bed, trying to return to sleep amidst all the disorder in the room.

"Don't worry Mr. Freeman. I'll take the call." His advisor grabbed Huey's cell phone on the tabletop and placed it firmly against his ear as he accepted the incoming call.

"You've reached Mayor Freeman's phone number, this is his advisor speaking. May I help you?" His advisor spoke eloquently into the phone.

"Hello?" The girl on the phone had a tinge of urgency in her voice.

"Hi, is this important?" Huey's advisor asked.

"Um…I'm calling from California and –"

"I'm sorry, but if you're calling from California, you should direct your phone calls to _your _local mayors, not to mayors in Maryland."

"Please! I need to speak to Huey Freeman!"

"Um, no you don't. Mr. Freeman is a very busy person and he doesn't have time for people out of his jurisdiction. If you have a problem, take it to the Californian governor. Thanks for calling." Immediately, his advisor hit the "end call" button on the phone, but not before the phone emanated with what sounded like an excerpt of a pleading cry for Huey's attention before being abruptly cut off by the advisor hitting the end call button.

"Who was that?" Huey asked, noticing his advisor's distempered demeanor.

"Some girl from California. Her name was Jazmine."

Huey's eyes grew wide upon realization. No…it couldn't be. There could be thousands of girls in California named "Jazmine" or "Jasmine" or some other derivative of the name. Huey immediately removed the blanket covering him and placed his two socked feet firmly on the ground as he stood at full length in front of his advisor, exposing a Huey Freeman in pajamas. His goliath height made him a very imposing person nonetheless.

"I told her that you don't take phone calls from people out of his jurisdiction. Judging that you're a very busy person, I think you wouldn't have time to talk to somebody who's three thousand miles away." His advisor continued, noticing Huey occupied in deep contemplation.

"Did you get her last name?"

"What? I'm sorry, but why does her last name matter, I mean she's not one of your constituents."

"Did. You. Get. Her. Last. Name." Huey asked once again, becoming impatient at his advisor's lack of direction abiding skills. His advisor immediately cooperated, knowing from experience to never question his boss's directions or to never test his patience, since once his patience runs out, Huey has a notorious record of belittling you with punishing words.

"Her – her last name was…Dubois."

Huey's face immediately took on a bewildered disposition, causing his advisor to cringe for no apparent reason.

"Why didn't you give the phone to me?" Huey calmly asked, yet from his advisor's perspective, it seemed like his boss was yelling at him with his reverberating voice.

"I'm – I'm sorry boss…but, but I didn't think you'd want to be…um, interrupted?" His advisor spoke as if he had no confidence behind his words.

Huey sighed in exasperation. His advisor did have a point.

"Did we at least get the phone number?"

"No sir. The number she was calling from was a blocked number."

Huey glared at his advisor, causing him to back up in fear of his boss lashing out at him. He sat down in a chair as Huey began to pace back and forth in the hotel room.

"Next time Jazmine Dubois calls, you give the phone to me."

"Yes sir."

At that moment, Huey abruptly ceased his pacing as someone rapped at the door. A rather boisterous person was on the other side of the door as he commanded Huey to let him in.

"Huey! It's me, open this door this instant!"

The moment Huey opened the door, a portly Black fellow erupted through the entrance and into the room as the two advisors stared transfixed at none other than Buckner Ogden and his ridiculous antics.

"How did you –" Huey started, but was immediately interrupted.

"What's up, Huey! I realize you might need an accomplice during your campaign!" Buckner spat, spraying Huey with spit particulates, which landed on Huey's face. Huey took a handkerchief and wiped the particles off.

"Um. No I don't, and how did you know exactly where I am at this moment?"

"Actually Huey, your poll numbers may have gone up in the past few weeks but yet you're _still_ trailing Charlie LeMieux. Plus," Buckner continued, addressing Huey's question. "Buckner knows everything. Just because you camp out at this lavish hotel room doesn't mean it's a secret to the Mayor of Chicago."

Huey stared bewildered at his two advisors, who only exchanged glances with each other and shrugged back at their boss.

"Are we _that_ insecure? That could mean _anyone_ could know _anything_ about our plans! Hell, people might already have gotten their hands on my social security number!" Huey exclaimed, perplexed at the fact that Buckner knows more than he should.

"No, no, no. Huey, you've got it all wrong. You're just blowing this out of proportion." Buckner started with a chuckle, "Good god Huey, maybe your critics are right. Maybe you might be too young to run the city of Baltimore."

In response to Buckner's remark, Huey narrowed his eyes at Buckner. To a normal person, Huey's harsh stare would suffice to freezing the blood in a person's veins. To Buckner Ogden, this made no discernable effect on him as he continued to wear the ludicrous smile plastered on his face.

"What? I'm just saying. Anyways, don't worry about how I know everything. Your information is well kept by these exemplary advisors doing exemplary work. Nobody knows anything about your personal information."

Huey maintained his murderous stare at Buckner, still remaining skeptical at Buckner's assurance. How Buckner got word of his location was a mystery to him…but he had no time to meddle around with that. He had to get back to business if he wanted to overtake his rival in the polls. As Huey was occupied in deep contemplation, Buckner casually walked over to the curtain and opened them, abruptly increasing the amount of sunlight in the room. Huey walked over to the window and stared at the view of downtown Woodcrest. His window had a good view of Woodcrest General Hospital, which Huey gazed menacingly towards. Although Buckner could be mistaken as a person with a tremendous amount of idiocy, he was still a very perceptive person nonetheless. He traced Huey's stare towards the hospital and inquired.

"There's something about that hospital you don't like?"

Huey took in a deep breath and exhaled as his eyes closed. Buckner was a naturally inquisitorial person. Although Huey didn't want to tell a story about his previous experiences revolving around that hospital, he couldn't help but remember the day his Granddad reminded him that how life is always terminal.

"That hospital was the epicenter for most of my problems."

Buckner listened on as Huey shared yet another anecdote of his biography. Buckner only knew of Huey's parents and their calamitous fate, but to hear that Huey has an innumerable amount of afflictions gave him insight as to why Huey acts precociously.

* * *

_November 15__th__, 2005_

"Riley, do you want to go to school or not?" A sixteen-year-old Huey Freeman stood over a fourteen-year-old Riley Freeman as his brother loudly snoozed away in his bed, who would rather waste his life away if not for school.

"Nigga, who you is? My momma?" Riley smugly replied.

It was a dreary Tuesday morning in November as it was pouring buckets of rain outside. The raindrops menacingly pounded the roof above Huey and Riley, which only compounded Riley's somnolent state of mind, as Huey didn't even bother dignifying the disrespectful reply from Riley concerning their dead mother.

"Fine, but I'm telling you, it's seven o'clock in the morning. If you're not downstairs in ten minutes, I'm going to leave for school whether you're in my car or not." Huey spoke in a half-irritated voice.

Riley was dead asleep. He didn't even bother to hear what Huey said…something about "_seven clocks in my car_" or some shit. Huey never said anything important about his life anyway.

Huey rummaged through the refrigerator to grab something he could eat quickly in the car while driving. He finally settled on the rather suspiciously sketchy half-eaten bagel staring straight at him, as if begging him to "eat me." Huey, who was in a disorganized haste, didn't even bother to inspect it and ran towards the garage with the bagel in his mouth, his unzipped backpack hanging from his left shoulder on one strap, as he struggled to put his right shoe on his socked left foot.

Everybody who graduated in the Class of 2005 the previous May told Huey that his Junior year was going to be the most difficult of them all. And boy, was that a definite understatement. The dark circles around Huey's eyes were blatantly visible from all the homework he was given the night before, which literally took him until four in the morning to finish. On a typical night, Huey would plow through endless outlines, essays, projects, and other school paraphernalia with several cups of coffee waiting for him downstairs. Usually, Huey would condescendingly look down upon anyone who depended on any drug including caffeine to aid them in their life…but this year Huey was _required_ to stay up all night. Finally, after several hours of laborious homework, he would get to shut his eyes for about two-and-a-half hours before waking up again and starting another day of consigned labor. Huey often questioned why he decided to sign up for _six_ Advanced Placement classes and one honors class as his workload began to take a toll on his health. _What was I smoking at the time?_ Huey would often jokingly ask himself each night his homework forced him to work overtime.

"Huey! Where's Riley?" Granddad called after the haphazardly looking Huey as he stumbled into the living room towards the garage.

"I don't know, sleeping?" Huey replied, with a noticeably fatigued voice.

"Boy, look at you! You look like the grim reaper done took your soul!" Granddad exclaimed after realizing the enervated state Huey was languishing in.

"Granddad, the grim reaper took my soul when the school year started." Huey snorted before rolling his eyes, then starting towards the garage again.

"Boy, git back here!" Granddad commanded, "Here, take my keys. I don't think I will be needing Dorothy anymore."

Huey caught the keys Granddad sent flying towards him. He paused for a second, staring into his Granddad's eyes before giving his inquiry.

"Why did you say 'you won't need Dorothy' anymore?" Huey asked, referring to the pimped-out car that Xzibit modified on an episode of _Pimp My Ride_.

"Huey, these old bones don't work the way they used to." Granddad sighed, and then stared back at Huey, who acted as if he didn't understand a word coming out of his mouth.

"Granddad, what's going on?" Huey asked. Either the homework was literally eating him alive, or Huey was too tired to understand the English language.

"Huey, I got checked out for cancer a week ago. The results came back and my doctors told me I had mesothelioma for the past three years. The cancer had metastasized from my lung into every tissue in my body, which makes it hard for the surgeons to remove any remaining trace of cancer if they try to do so." Granddad paused, looking down at his shoes for a few seconds. Huey, shellshocked at the news he was receiving, did not dare open his mouth. "Huey, I'm going to die next year."

Huey's eyebrows lifted from the usual scowl he wore on his face. He couldn't believe the Freeman clan was going to lose another member again – it was as if the grim reaper had a proclivity towards his family. And he was half-joking about death just a few minutes before this conversation was struck up.

"But don't tell your brother about this. The last thing I want is some emotional grandson bothering me about my cancer. That's why I told you because I know you would understand." Granddad ordered. Huey stared at the car keys he held in his hands. Granddad chose him to know about his ailments…_because he would understand_. Usually, understanding was an asset to any person who possessed the attribute. But in Huey's case, understanding and knowledge was something that always elicited suffering, whether it meant understanding the homework he was assigned every night or whether it meant Granddad had a cancer that would ultimately prove terminal to his life in the immediate future. Knowledge is power…but with that power comes the sacrifices one would have to make in their life.

Huey closed his eyes and sighed again as his Granddad went upstairs. He could hear the audible cracking whip from Granddad's belt as a storm bore down on Riley demanding he wake up.

"Boy, you betta get yo ass to school 'fo I whip you all the way over there!"

"No, Granddad NO! I'm too young for dis kinda abuse! No! Dis is domestic violence, Granddad!"

"Boy, you think I care? Go ahead an' call the cops! OH WAIT! You don't snitch! Hehehe!"

"Dat's cold, Granddad! OW!"

Huey sighed once more before opening the garage door and placing the keys in Dorothy's ignition, firing up the engine, and proceeding towards Woodcrest High School.

Minutes later, Riley was standing outside the front door in his pajamas, forced out of the house by his Granddad.

"Man, dis dat ol' bullshit!" Riley remarked. Granddad didn't even give Riley an opportunity to change into his appropriate schoolwear.

The constant pelting rain was soaking Riley. As he walked toward the sidewalk and straight towards his school, which had to be thirty minutes of walking, he cursed Huey for what he perceived was his homosexuality.

"Damn. Why'd I have ta be da one stuck wit a gay-ass nigga for a brother?" He asked to nobody in particular. A large truck drove right past Riley, who was coincidentally standing next to a puddle of water. This resulted in a tsunami roaring onto Riley, further soaking his already soggy pajamas.

"Yo, Riley! You need a ride?" A black car pulled up next to the unsuspecting Riley, who was already cursing up a storm as massive as the one raining down on him.

"Yo! What up Marcus?" Riley smirked. Marcus was the one who recruited Riley into the local Baltimore-based gang, whom Huey had warned about thousands of times before. These warnings were always unheeded by Riley, who was more concerned about being a badass gangsta than worrying about his well-being. What did Huey know about the streets anyway? All he cared was about reading his books, politics, and more politics. So even though Huey warned Riley about getting involved in gang warfare, Riley disregarded Huey's "worthless" prophecies. Little did Riley know, his gang was encroaching into enemy territory controlled by a rival gang, which meant politics was about to dictate what was about to transpire on the streets of Baltimore. Usually, these gang politics would be resolved over bloody drive-bys or other gun-related crime. Riley, who was too shortsighted to see what Huey could see in his predictions, was about to receive a crash course in "Gang Politics 101."

"Aye, Riley. You look like one soaked up nigga. Let's head over to mah house 'fo goin ta school so we c'n get you some clothes."

"Yeah, yeah!" Riley concurred.

Huey approached a figure with a huge Afro protruding from their raincoat in the distance. He pulled up to her, offering her a ride.

"Huey!" Jazmine exclaimed.

"Look, you wanna get in the car or not?" Huey asked with a noticeable alacrity in his voice. Jazmine hopped in the car, a refugee from the torrential downpour that took Woodcrest literally by storm.

"So I see you got your grandfather's car." Jazmine said, inspecting all the amenities installed by Xzibit years ago.

"Yeah, and I see your parents haven't given you one yet." Huey retorted.

"Yeah," Jazmine answered softly, as if it struck a sensitive topic.

Huey noticed Jazmine's face expose a slight amount of distress, as if revealing something that has been tearing at her emotions for a while. Immediately, Huey had the need to delve into the situation, possibly since he was naturally an inquisitive person who needed to know every aspect of any situation…or because he began to care for Jazmine's well being, which he neglected for the past several years.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

"Jazmine, judging by the way you look, there's _definitely_ something wrong."

Jazmine sighed and shut her eyes. She had the urge to just let everything spill from her emotions and let Huey know about her problems. Yet she's learned from experience for the past six years that Huey would rather not want to hear anything about her frivolous problems. Usually Huey would continue reading his newspaper as she babbled about her afflictions, only for Huey to look up and say "sorry, I wasn't listening," or "Jazmine, everybody in this world has problems. We live in a world where everybody will die, and those problems won't matter after we're gone." Yet for some reason, she noticed Huey was slightly more receptive this time.

Huey knew Jazmine had problems with her emotions, yet he never got to the bottom of the same problems afflicting her. He always disregarded them, considering Jazmine was a naturally emotional person, yet this perception was a misguided one – Jazmine's emotions were never without reason. Although Huey had a trained eye to accurately predict the future, Jazmine was a tough person to see through. Her issues were heavily guarded, and Huey never gained insight on her afflictions. Instead, Huey dismissed her emotional outbreaks as being "typical old Jazmine."

After Jazmine remained silent for a few tense moments, she decided to comment on Huey's ghastly state of being.

"Huey, you're forming circles around your eyes."

"I'm sorry Jazmine, but I can't maintain good looks like you can."

"Yeah, especially since I have a more rigorous schedule than you do." Jazmine boasted.

"You do _not_ have a more rigorous schedule than I do!"

"Uh-huh!" Jazmine stuck her tongue out at Huey. "I have _seven_ Advanced Placement classes!"

"_What?_" Huey stared at her with bewilderment. He could not believe Jazmine had seven AP classes considering she always seemed in good condition.

"Yeah, Huey. I manage my time wisely."

"_How?"_ Huey asked once again, who seemed like he was about to interrogate Jazmine with the Five W's.

"Easy! When I get home from school, I immediately start on my homework, unlike you who always succumbs to your brother's plea to play with him on the Xbox." Jazmine smugly said, "It's called _time management_, Huey. It's where you manage your time _wisely_." Jazmine spoke slowly, as if speaking condescendingly to a five-year-old kid who had no understanding of the concept of what time was.

"I know what time management means, Jazmine!"

Jazmine giggled, with her out-of-control afro shaking as she laughed at Huey's irritation.

Jazmine was the only person who didn't receive the wrath of Huey's angry demeanor whenever she laughed at him. However, if any other person was to laugh at Huey, he would raise hell and the person who just derisively chortled at Huey would wish they never met him.

Huey pulled into the student parking lot, which was often heavily guarded by Assistant Principals during the school day to catch any student attempting to "play hookie" from school and escape. If a student were to try to pull out of the parking lot, the Assistant Principal would stop them and send their victim back to school with a one-way trip to In School Suspension. Huey and Jazmine, and by extension the rest of the student body, colloquially dubbed the aforementioned Assistant Principals the "Parking Fascists," or worse, "The Assy Principals," which was coined from the title "Assistant."

When Huey and Jazmine arrived at school, a congregation of transfixed adolescents surrounded an announcement board in front of school. This only meant one thing: the update of the dreaded class rankings. Huey never looked forward to seeing his class rank, a stark contrast from Jazmine who was eager as always to know how smart she was relative to the rest of the student body at Woodcrest High School. Not because Huey was ashamed about his class rank – he consistently ranked within the Top 20 students – but because he was always irritated by how Jazmine would rub it in his face when she found out she attained a higher rank than him.

Huey and Jazmine were met up with Cindy, Caesar, and Hiro as Jazmine dragged the reluctant Huey towards the announcement board.

"Yo, Huey! Whattup?" The voice belonged to Caesar as he called Huey out, rescuing him from Jazmine's death grip.

"Nothing much, Ceez. The usual" Huey said, beckoning towards Jazmine as she scanned over the ranking sheets intently. Her eyes were lit up as they scrutinized the lists of students.

"Oh. Looks like you two are about to get into a fierce debate." Caesar replied, "Hey Cindy, twenty bucks says Huey's rank is lower than Jazmine's."

"What? Why can't I bet for Jazmine! She always wins!" Cindy retorted, obviously disgusted at Caesar's attempt at what is perceived as a way to make easy money.

"Wow, guys. Thanks for the support." Huey replied, blatantly eavesdropping on Caesar and Cindy's bet.

"Sorry, man. But I have to bet for Jazmine since she _always_ kicks your ass in the class ranks." Caesar said with a tinge of innocence in his voice.

Finally, when the boisterous crowd surrounding the announcement board dispersed, Huey and his group approached the class ranking sheets as they expected Huey and Jazmine to descend into debate as usual.

"Huey Freeman, number four." Huey said proudly, not even looking for Jazmine's name since he assumed his rank should be unbeatable at this point. His assumptions proved to be fallacious as he saw Jazmine's face light up with excitement.

"Jazmine Dubois, number two!" Jazmine exclaimed as she celebrated by blissfully jumping up and down and proceeded to rub her rank in Huey's face, "I'm the salutatorian!"

Caesar punched Cindy on her shoulder, demanding her to pay up for her end on the bet. In retaliation, Cindy punched Caesar in the face, the blow landing on his forehead as she told Caesar something he overlooked: "We never bet, you dummy!"

Caesar grumbled as he held his forehead, sending a few death wishes Cindy's way.

"Aye! Why da fuck did you leave without me! You's a punk ass nigga!" Riley came out of nowhere, and slapped Huey upside the face as he was locked in a frivolous argument with Jazmine over their class ranks.

Huey tore his attention from Jazmine and stared eye-to-eye with his younger brother. "Because you didn't even bother to wake up when I told you I was leaving."

"Nigga, you calls dat a wakeup call?" Riley said, and once more sent another blow to Huey, this time attempting to land a fist on Huey's stomach, which Huey easily caught.

Finally, the bell for first hour rang, preventing Huey's arguments with either Jazmine or Riley from escalating into something more serious.

"Yous lucky. I woulda blackened yo' eye, nigga." Riley shouted as Huey walked toward his class. Huey didn't even bother to dignify Riley with a response.

After the first two class periods, the bell releasing the students for lunch rang. This allowed students an hour of lunch, which they had the freedom of walking off campus to obtain food…that is, if you were a Senior. Huey and his clan, being that they were Juniors, remained on campus to languish as they ate the often questionable school lunch they paid for. The fact that they paid a luxurious five dollars for a standard meal did not make the food any more appealing than the food raccoons dig out of trashcans.

"I heard Jazmine has a higher class rank than you. Is this correct?" Hiro Otomo inquired, resulting in Huey Freeman's face contorting into a face of disapproval. Although his face was already in that expression by default, this made it hard to tell whether he was just angry because he was angry, or because of how Jazmine continues to rub the news in his face even when _she's not physically present._

"Man, don' nobody curr 'bout Huey's nerdy-ass rank." Riley interjected, "We _all_ know Jazmine always opens a can of ass-whuppin –"

Huey interrupted Riley's train of thought by forcefully shoving several napkins into Riley's mouth, thus silencing him.

"Damn, I'm guessing Jazmine once again beat you in a game of intelligence." Hiro presumed, but not before receiving a harsh glance from Huey. Hiro put his arms in the air, as if to proclaim his innocence.

Moments later, Huey saw a sketchy Black man in the corner of his eye coming towards their table. Huey turned to look at him, who felt as though the unknown person had a nasty disposition about him as he stomped their way. Huey's eyes narrowed as he approached the table. He wore a shirt that suspiciously looked like gang colors and logos, with tattoos covering most of his forearms. His face had a menacing look to it, yet he was staring at _Riley_.

Huey instinctively stood up and got into a fighting stance as the thug pushed and shoved Riley out of his seat and onto the floor while Riley struggled to remove the napkins that were forced into his mouth moments earlier.

"Damn, nigga! What yo problem is?" Riley asked as he got up from the floor, only to be beaten down again by a brute blow to the face. Everybody in the courtyard was silenced as they saw a fight unravel amidst them. Huey stood up, challenging the thug.

"You have a problem with him?" Huey asked.

"Ain't nobody told you dis is of your concern." The thug retorted with a cold demeanor.

"Well it is now, whether you like it or not." Huey retorted sharply.

The thug eyed Huey with disgust for a few tense moments, until Riley interrupted the stare down with a sharp blow to the gangsta's face.

"Nigga, you wanna come up here and act like you own da place? You betta check yoself," Riley shouted as the thug's eyesight was obscured by stars induced by Riley's punch.

The thug quickly recovered before Riley could land another blow on him, as he easily caught Riley's punch and proceeded to put Riley in a chokehold.

"Riley, why don't you tell yo gang to stay off _our_ streets? Remember, Bawl'more was our territory, is our territory, _and always will_ _be our territory._" The gangsta promptly said, and released Riley from his python-like, strangling grip. Riley immediately crumpled onto the floor as he tried to gasp for breath.

Huey stood his ground, contemplating on whether he should strike the gangsta now that Riley was out of the way. Yet at that moment, an assistant principal appeared, threatening to give everybody in-school suspension if a fight broke out. Huey, who had no chance to lash out at the gangsta, saw as the thug walked away from the scene as if nothing happened. The assistant principal eyed him suspiciously for a few moments, and then decided to let him go. But before he was out of earshot, the thug turned and threatened Huey.

"Tell Riley if he knows what's good for him, he best go run and hide cuz daddy's got a new .45. And I won't think twice to stick a barrel down his throat. Believe me when I say I got somethin fo' his punkass." And with that, he sublimated into the courtyard crowd.

"Riley, do you know him?" Huey asked as he helped his brother back onto his feet.

"Man, he just a punk. He scurred dat our gang is forcing their gang off da streets of Baltimore."

"Riley, did you not listen when I told you joining a gang of any type is not a wise decision?"

"Can't you stop worryin' bout me? Man, I'm so tired of you actin like you's my mother or sum shit. It's getting old, ya old nigga!"

Huey observed Riley for a few tense moments. The atmosphere between them became anxious as both brothers stared each other down. Huey gave Riley a scornful look, which Riley returned mockingly at Huey. Huey thought about the ramifications about gang warfare. These stories were not fairytales as much as Riley would like to believe them to be. They never had a "happily ever after" at the end. They usually ended with both sides losing a significant amount of personnel. This often forces the gang to retaliate with another attack, which is driven by the niggardly emotions of those who lost their loved ones in gang warfare. This is soon followed by another attack, which then sparks a vicious circle of death, warfare, and death. Huey had to intervene or Riley would get caught up in the gang warfare for control of Baltimore.

"Riley, someday you are going to be sorry."

"Whateva, nigga."

Hours after the encounter with a rival member of another gang during dismissal, Riley walked out of Woodcrest High School with a high sense of self and couldn't help but be proud. He finally garnered some haters, which in Riley's mind was a measure of popularity in his gang. Once again, after countless warnings, Riley disregarded Huey's grim predictions if he were to remain in his gang. Huey gave Riley an ultimatum to leave the gang. Riley saw past this ultimatum and thought Huey had nothing to back his words, which resulted in Riley's perception of Huey just "spewing out hollow predictions" and disregarded Huey altogether. Nevermind that Huey's predictions were always precisely accurate, Riley remained oblivious to Huey's warnings. Huey often questioned why he still looked out for his brother after all these years of idiocy. He always has to remind himself – rather forcefully – that Riley is his brother and it would be shameful on his part if he allowed anything to happen to him.

The weather was significantly milder than it was during the morning, yet it still had an overcast sky, which cast a sullen grey color on the world below the clouds. The temperature dropped dramatically compared to the morning temperature during the relentless storm. Huey and Caesar walked toward the soccer field, where soccer practice was being held. The ground was left soggy after the torrential downpour, which contributed to the muddiness of the field as the soccer players ran, dove, slid, and kicked through the messy field.

"Man, I love playing in the mud," Caesar remarked as he deftly kicked the soccer ball like a hacky sack, not letting it touch the ground as he maneuvered it using only his legs and feet.

"Of course, because you're a pig." Huey couldn't help but crack a joke. Caesar could see Huey's breath turn into fog as it left Huey's mouth, which was an indication as to how cold it became after the storm passed.

"Yo mama's so fat, people mistake her as a pig." Caesar offered. Huey sighed in return.

"Caesar, why do I _have_ to attend your soccer practices? I mean, nobody wants to be a spectator for something that doesn't have a profound effect on your season."

"Oh, but practice _does_ have a profound effect on our season. Because without practice, we would suck." Caesar punched a hole through Huey's logic. A rarity considering Huey's logic was never porous.

As Caesar took to the field, Huey walked into the stands…the only spectator among the vast bleachers. Caesar waved at Huey from the field as he prepared to start a split-squad game, and passed the ball to his other Forward position playing teammate as the game ensued. Huey stared wearily at the field below, where Caesar scored the first goal within the first five minutes of the game. Huey would not be alone in the stands any longer, as Jazmine came up from behind him and covered Huey's eyes.

"Guess who?" Jazmine asked.

"Someone who has really stinky hands."

"My hands are not stinky!"

"Jazmine, obviously I know it's you whose hands are blocking my vision. I recognize your voice anytime, anywhere so I always know who is putting their hands over my eyes. It's really a redundant question when you ask 'guess who' when your voice blatantly gives it away."

Huey just _had_ to be brutally honest. He would never seem to play along, but Jazmine was never confounded by Huey's expressions of irritation.

"Wow, Huey. All that time, you could have just said my name." And with that, she removed her hands from Huey's face, allowing him to see again.

Jazmine sat beside Huey as they observed the soccer team's practice sessions. It was a few moments before either Jazmine or Huey would exchange words again.

"So, what was the fight between Riley and that other thug all about?" Jazmine inquired, breaking the silence. Six years of learning Huey's mannerisms and she still could not bear the silence, which Huey appreciated and Jazmine abhorred.

"Riley joined a gang a few months ago." Huey replied, failing to keep the animosity out of his voice.

"Really? Well that comes as no surprise, since he's always trying to be a troublemaker."

"That's the problem."

"Why? I mean you never had a problem with his gangsta attitude."

"Yeah, because I always thought he was just being ignorant and immature…it's something a normal troublemaking kid would want. But now that he's in a _real_ gang, there is going to be _real_ consequences."

Jazmine said nothing in response. Finally, after another few tense moments, Huey spoke up.

"My parents died that way."

Jazmine whipped her head around to face Huey. She was taken by surprise when she saw a little emotion creep into his face. She has never seen Huey look so somber before. She always recognized his face with the archetypical scowl portrayed as his expression, so of course emotion was literally not part of his facial features any time of the day. When the words registered in her brain, she felt the need to sympathize. She was always the one who anyone could go to for his or her problems and she would be the one to listen.

"Huey, I'm so sorry."

Huey placed his face into his hands. It's been six years since he lost his parents, yet the repercussions could still be freshly felt. People say time heals everything, but Huey Freeman still keeps waiting. Six years by then…_six years_, he should have been cured of his misanthropy according to those so-called "experts" who claim time is the quintessentially natural healer. But Huey still retains his animosity for the universe, and he still shows no signs of abetting.

"That's why I'm always trying to remind Riley." Huey's voice was noticeably cracking. Jazmine has never seen Huey act so downtrodden before. "I'm always telling him not to make the same mistakes my dad made. But he never listens!" Huey shouted abruptly, making Jazmine jump in her seat slightly. "I don't wanna witness my brother get murdered in the same fashion my parents did. I couldn't live for months after they died. What makes you think I'll survive if I have to go through that again?" Huey sniffled. He tried to stifle the moisture forming in his eyes, holding his sleeve up to his eyes.

"Huey," Jazmine tried to offer her condolences to Huey, but stopped short, as she had nothing to say. Instead, she wrapped her arm around the uncharacteristically melancholy Huey.

"I made a promise." Huey spoke calmly yet boldly, "I made a promise to make sure Riley never ends up sharing the same demise my father was doomed to."

Jazmine did not dare speak a word and instead chose to bring Huey closer to her with an empathetic embrace. To Huey's own surprise, he did not have the impulse to push away from her, and instead welcomed her comforting hug. There was something about Jazmine's condolences that made him feel somewhat mollified of his anguish. It was years since Huey had a comforting shoulder to cry on, which compounded his sense of remoteness. Sure, he had Granddad and Riley, but they would sardonically ridicule him if he gave them any reason to perceive him as weak. Hell, Granddad or Riley would always neglect his words of wisdom, so what would make any sound-minded person think they would care about Huey when he's down? And sure Huey also had Caesar, but given Caesar's buffoonery, he would not be taken seriously if Huey came to him like Caesar was a therapist. Jazmine was the only person who singlehandedly kept Huey a sane person for the past six years, and Huey never realized this until now.

Jazmine anticipated Huey to lash out at her, but it never occurred. Huey surprised her by bringing one of his arms around Jazmine and requiting the same embrace. She stared up at Huey, who still had a somber expression on his face. She noticed his wine-colored pupils were already wading in tears and couldn't help but feel sad for him. At that moment, the sun shone through a break in the clouds and its rays struck Huey's eyes in a way that made it appear to sparkle from Jazmine's perception. She has never seen Huey show any sort of emotion during the six years she's known him, so Jazmine could clearly understand Huey's anguish over his parents and to an extent, Riley's bleak future partly because she knew Huey would never show his emotions unless it was something so grave…

"You were very close with your parents." Jazmine concluded. Huey never spoke about his parents, yet she already knew. In response, Huey only gave a subtle nod and a sniffle. Huey turned his gaze towards Jazmine, the rays of the newfound sun striking her amber eyes which created an awe-inspiring ethereal appearance about her. Jazmine tightened her embrace around Huey.

"Huey. I want to let you know I'll always be here for you. I've always been here and always will."

Huey closed his eyes as Jazmine continued to comfort him.

"Jazmine, promise me you'll never leave."

"I won't, Huey. I promise."

And for as long as they could remember, Jazmine and Huey sat there, comforted by the fact that they would never desert each other. Huey was assuaged by Jazmine's caring personality…since the day his parents died, he was left with nobody's shoulder to cry on. Granddad would only disregard Huey's grieving and Riley never comprehended Huey's anguish either. He had learned that his emotions were worthless to those around him, so he quickly learned to repress and bottle up his emotions since they never meant anything to anybody around him anymore. Yet Jazmine brought the return of a personality who actually cared. Finally, after six years of overlooking, he realized it was Jazmine who would always bring out the best in him. She was the most loyal of his friends; she always accompanied Huey with whatever he was doing, whether it meant saving someone who was wrongly accused from execution or whether it meant accompanying him through the fried chicken flu, she was always there for him.

* * *

Can you believe it? Of all people, _Riley_ was the one who brought Huey and Jazmine together…well, by proxy, but you get the idea…

I'd like to thank MissG2020 for your review!

I'm guessing you all were wondering "When the hell is Huey and Jazmine going to get a chapter!" Well, you don't have to wait anymore. And to all my anti-Huey-Jazmine people out there, I hope you don't send death threats my way lol. Anyways, I gotta go and cheer for Manny Pacquiao. If you don't know who he is, he's the national hero of the Philippines. And if you're cheering for Margarito, I have one word for you...BOO! JK. So if this chapter was corny enough for you, please review!

-Ian

_Disclaimer:_ _I don't own The Boondocks. Seriously, what fanfiction author would? That's why it's called "FanFiction"!  
The Boondocks is property of Aaron McGruder, the Universal Press Syndicate and Sony Pictures Television. _


	6. Relapse

Relapse

"So, tell me more about this Dubois girl."

"What?"

"You heard me. C'mon, it's not like it would kill you to let me know."

Huey and Buckner were on their way to get brunch before finishing the last item on the itinerary for Huey's campaign. His final stop in Woodcrest was his old high school, where he was scheduled to give the students an inspirational speech before finishing up his tour in his campaign.

"Why does it matter to you?"

"Well Huey, it matters to me because you were talking about her back in the hotel like she was some kind of long lost lover or something."

Buckner immediately saw the flicker in Huey's eyes as he stared at his shoes. For a few seconds, there was a heavy silence that fell upon them, despite the low rumble of the limo along the pavement. It was a subtle expression, yet it was enough evidence for Buckner to realize that Jazmine had a profound influence on Huey's troubled life. Despite Buckner's shenanigans, he was strangely a perceptive person. It was as if Buckner had the keen sense to observe people's body language and immediately formulate an accurate conclusion.

"Jazmine…" Huey started, but stopped in midsentence when he saw Buckner's eyes bearing down on him. Buckner made a circular hand gesture as if to provoke Huey to continue. "Jazmine was my first girlfriend."

Huey exhaled, as if the weight of the world was immediately taken off his shoulders. Buckner, who was still not appeased by this short explanation, continued to try to draw more information from Huey. He continued his interrogation, as if nothing could be more intriguing than Huey's love life, or lack thereof.

"And…" Buckner said, apparently becoming impatient at Huey's suspenseful pause.

"That's it. She was my girlfriend. That's all there is to it. What else do you want from me?" Huey shot back, his response cold and sharp at the beleaguering mayor.

"Well, judging by your body language, Huey, this Dubois woman was obviously more than 'just a girlfriend.'"

Huey sighed and pinched his bridge of his nose while shutting his eyes and shaking his head. Buckner looked on with curiosity, trying to get Huey to unlock his heavily guarded vault of memories. He continued to instigate Huey, but it was equivalent to drawing water from a boulder in a desert.

"Look Buckner, I already told you that she was my first girlfriend. Is that not enough information for you? What do you want me to say?"

"Huey, I want you to tell me more about Jazmine. Obviously telling me that she was your girlfriend isn't enough for me to understand why this girl had a profound effect on your life. I also want to know why you don't have a significant other up until now. Huey, you're thirty-nine years old! You should have been married a decade ago! Obviously something happened between you two that compelled you to never love again."

Huey whipped his head towards Buckner, his eyes wide with a dumbfounded expression. He was shocked that Buckner could easily come to a conclusion that was so…_accurate_. It was like Buckner knew Huey for most of his life despite just meeting him a few weeks ago. Surprisingly enough, Huey was a hard person to read for most people. Many therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists could not even hope to make an accurate analysis within their natural born lives by being able to analyze Huey's unreadable body expressions, yet Buckner immediately figured him out in less than a _minute_.

Huey shrugged back at Buckner, "You know why I don't have a significant other? Because I have been an occupied person for the vast majority of my life. I cannot let another person get in my life and interrupt me from contributing to society. You happy now?" Huey shot a bone-chilling glare at Buckner.

"Bull. Shit." Buckner retorted, which made Huey's eyebrows shoot all the way into his hairline. "Huey, what do you take me as? A clown?" When Huey opened his mouth to reply in the affirmative, Buckner held his right hand up, signaling Huey to shut it. "Evidently, this Jazmine Dubois girl made you eventually realize that you completed her and she completed you. She was the perfect woman for you. And," Huey made an insignificantly imperceptible cringe, which Buckner caught nonetheless, "Obviously you two separated, considering she's now in California and you're still here. I think that's why you have never devoted yourself to another woman."

Huey shook his head in utter disbelief. Buckner only returned a smirk at Huey, and tapped his pointer finger on his temple.

"You can't hide anything from Buckner. Remember that."

Huey sighed in exasperation. Busted. Buckner nodded his head as he saw Huey silently admit his defeat. Of course, Buckner was impeccable in his assumptions. His accuracy was stunning despite how his antics could easily make anyone mistakenly assume his idiocy.

"Fine. You've caught me. Big whoop. Now can we get food?" Huey opened the door of his limo when they parked in front of an elegant restaurant and was about to step out until Buckner grabbed the collar of Huey's suit and pulled Huey back into the limo with brute strength. Huey slammed back into his seat as Buckner shoved him into it. He received an arctic evil eye from Huey in response.

"Get back here. You need to tell me about Jazmine."

Huey stared at Buckner with an expression that was indecipherable to even Buckner himself. Finally, Huey softened his gaze at Buckner and told him about his first and only girlfriend.

* * *

_March 25, 2006_

It was a rather sedentary start to a mid-Spring Saturday morning in March. A sixteen-year-old Jazmine Dubois peacefully slumbered away in her bed, lying on her side as the first colors of dawn painted the dark early daybreak sky. In what could be construed as a definite anomaly, Jazmine's strawberry-blonde hair was not in its usual afro state – it elegantly cascaded onto the bed, strangely straighter than usual. As the first parcel of golden sun broke through the horizon at around six thirty in the morning, Jazmine's father, Tom, raced up the stairs and bombarded into her room, infringing upon the serenity that harbored the sedentary peace required to maintain the slumberous state Jazmine was in.

"Jazmine! Honey, wake up, you're going to be late for your SAT exam!"

Tom walked over to the foot of Jazmine's bed, raising hell in order to wake up his daughter. As he boisterously tried to use his meek voice to stimulate Jazmine, he proceeded to grab her right leg when all else failed and tickled Jazmine's right foot, which succeeded in activating the somnolent adolescent.

"Daddy?" Jazmine softly spoke, her breathtaking amber eyes slowly emerging from under her soft eyelids as she stared perplexed at her father. She was actually surprised to receive a wake-up call in possibly the first time in several years by _at least_ one of her parents. As she witnessed Tom babble about being the father of the first Dubois to get accepted to Johns Hopkins University, Jazmine retroceded back into an unconscious, listless state. Tom had not realized this and by the time he finished his exceedingly long oration about the "rise of the Dubois," Jazmine was already wandering deeper into her dreams.

"Jazmine? JAZMINE!" Tom shouted, taken aback by his daughter's disregard for his speech.

"I'm up, Daddy. Calm your horses."

Jazmine slowly sat up as Tom walked out of her room, his mission fulfilled. After a few seconds of wearily staring out of the window, Jazmine rubbed her eyes as she struggled to fight the urge to flop back onto her bed and snooze away. Yet before she could make a decision, Tom returned to her room with a full serving of breakfast in his hands. Two slices of bacon, sunny-side up eggs, and pancakes and syrup was on the tray as Tom gracefully placed it onto his daughter's bed.

"Now, I've made you breakfast so you have the energy to think your way through the SAT. Make me proud, honey!"

"I will, daddy."

"Oh, and I'll be waiting for you downstairs. Since you don't have a car, I decided to take the liberty and drive you to your testing location myself. Now I want you to prepare quickly because I have another business trip in Philadelphia today. I'll give you thirty minutes to prepare, okay sweetie?"

Jazmine observed Tom as she chewed on a mouthful of pancakes. She swallowed before replying "Okay."

"Oh, and Jazmine?" Tom once again addressed his daughter, facing her as he was about to walk through the doorway.

"Yes?" Jazmine looked up from her tray, her bright amber eyes once again meeting with her father's.

"I think your friend Huey has a gift for you. But you're not going to receive it until after your test, okay?"

"Okay." Jazmine said, and with that her father finally disappeared into the hallway, bestowing a tranquil atmosphere that previously took residence only moments before she woke up. Jazmine looked through the window as a few chromatic butterflies fluttered past her grandiose window. The daybreak sun illuminated the Freeman residence across the street, and Jazmine contemplated what exactly Huey could be giving her at this random moment. Whatever it was, Huey chose an peculiar time to bestow upon her a gift.

It was definitely an anomalous morning: Jazmine's hair actually remained straight the whole night through, Huey was being a philanthropist (which he rarely, if ever, reprised in that role), and her father was actually home cooking breakfast for her and offering her a ride. It's been several weeks since she has actually seen her father in person, and Jazmine was still shaken by her mother's infidelity. Jazmine could not even withstand the emotional calamity that was associated with Sarah's heinous crimes, so she decided to keep it a secret from Tom, considering it had the potential to open a consequential rift in the Dubois household. Little did she know that it had existed for several years…

Finally, after an expedited dress-up process, Jazmine was ready to leave for her college entrance exam. The minute she walked out the front door and towards the car containing her father, her abnormally straight hair immediately exploded into her typical Afro. As she struggled to put her stupendously sized Afro into a ponytail, she cursed up a storm about the humidity. And within minutes, the afro-donning Jazmine Dubois was well on her way to make SAT history.

"In the integer 3,589 the digits are all different and increase from left to right. how many integers between 4000 and 5000 have digits that are all different and that increase from left to right?"

"_What the fuck?"_

Jazmine, despite being a prodigal scholar, was confounded on an archetypical SAT problem. Besides, how the hell is anyone going to figure out how many numbers have different digits that increase from left to right between four thousand and five thousand? Luckily, Jazmine finished every other problem in that section, yet she was close to being compelled to pull her hair out as a result of her frustration to this problem. She looked at the clock…she had five more minutes before the proctor would call time, so she needed to find a solution, and fast.

"And…time! Pencils down…I SAID PENCILS DOWN!" The proctor, a burly man with balding hair covered by a toupee castigated the students trying to fill in last-second answers into their booklets.

"Damn kids…always trying to disregard rules and directions." He muttered under his breath. Finally, after talking to nobody in particular except himself, he finally notified the students of their fifteen-minute break.

"You have a fifteen minute break. You may use the bathrooms, get some sun, and eat some snacks. Just…don't…bother me."

The proctor didn't even bother to read the script pertaining to the fifteen minutes allotted for the break. He had a blatant mistrust for children, often looked down on them condescendingly, and was just downright ill mannered whenever he had to handle them. In other words, he was the quintessential school district employee in a high school who ironically took on a job that guaranteed him to interact with the very same demographic he despised. Why people take on jobs they hate remained a mystery for Jazmine Dubois.

As Jazmine sat in the courtyard of the school by herself, the wind breezed through her hair, and her amber eyes stared up at two doves flying freely into the wind. As she relished the warming rays of the sun beating down on her, she closed her eyes and relaxed while clearing her mind. The SAT testing room was kept at an abnormally cold temperature…it _had_ to be fifty degrees in there. Jazmine was shivering the whole time throughout the first eight sessions, so luckily there were two sessions left and she would be home free.

"Jazmine!"

She opened her eyes and turned her head in the direction of the voice calling her.

"Huey?"

Jazmine was surprised to see none other than Huey Freeman standing in front of her. Apparently by coincidence, Huey and Jazmine chose the same date and the same testing center to take the SAT.

"How do you think you did on your test?" Jazmine asked.

"Fine, I guess. But then again, this test is culturally biased. Evidence shows that the SAT makes questions that heavily favor wealthy Caucasians. That's a fact."

"Huey, you're the only person I know that could see social injustice in just about _anything_."

"But it's true! Have you ever heard of the oarsman-regatta analogy question? Look it up! The SAT tried to pull a fast one on Black people by asking that bullshit question years ago."

Jazmine giggled, admitting that Huey's paranoia towards just about _anything_ was facetious to say the least. Huey whipped his head towards the giggling Jazmine. He shot her a cold stare, yet he saw Jazmine's eyes were closed and her Afro in a ponytail was shaking up and down as she continued to laugh. Jazmine had to admit, Huey's perspective on anything was droll.

"Sure. Keep laughing Jazmine. I'm sure you won't be laughing when your mulatto self gets a poor score on this test."

Jazmine ceased her laughing long enough to torpedo Huey with a serious question.

"Okay, Huey. Since you think the SAT deliberately asks questions that Black people don't know, then were there any questions that you couldn't understand?"

"Well, actually no. Not really. But –"

"Exactly! Huey, you need to stop being so paranoid sometimes." Jazmine cut in before Huey could give himself an explanation for his exceptions.

"But," Huey said once again, "There was this one question about the digits between four thousand and five thousand or something like that. How the hell do you find out something like that anyway? And what do you mean I'm being paranoid? You should stop being so naïve!"

"You didn't get that either? I just listed out all the numbers that fit into their description. Too bad I didn't finish…" Jazmine paused, pondering on Huey's latter part of his sentence, "And what do _you_ mean by me being naïve?" Jazmine stuck her tongue out at Huey. Huey anticipated this and placed a little dirt on her tongue.

"EWWW!" Jazmine coughed, emanating noises as if she was choking on a little parcel of dirt in her mouth.

"Calm down, Jazmine. Statistically speaking, nobody has ever died by ingesting some dirt."

"Statistically speaking, _Freeman_, people have gotten sick by ingesting some dirt."

"Anyway," Huey continued, rolling his eyes in exasperation at Jazmine, "are there any other questions that you couldn't solve?"

"Well…" Jazmine stared at her feet, deep in contemplation, "Actually no. Every other question was easy for me." Jazmine enunciated with confidence.

"Ahem." The burly proctor stood behind the two African Americans, who both stared up at him at the same time. "If you two are discussing specific answers to specific questions on the test, I might invalidate your scores. Continue, and you will wish you never met each other. Because I can prevent you from taking a college entrance exam in this entire county."

Huey rolled his eyes at the proctor. He couldn't stand school district employees who acted as if they had a profound effect on their future. In fact, Huey couldn't even bear to be with any people who believed they had "supreme authority" over them.

"You didn't read the script saying that we can't discuss the test during our breaks. All you stated was specifically where the bathrooms are, where the courtyard is, and where we can get snacks. Last time I checked, you didn't say _anything_ about discussing the test. Maybe next time your lazy ass should read the damn script." Huey torpedoed the proctor with his sharp and cunning words. The proctor stared at Huey with wide eyes, and Jazmine took in a deep breath as she apprehensively knew the proctor was going to lash out at Huey and invalidate both their test scores. She made a small whimper as she realized the prospect of returning home a failure.

"Huey, stop." Jazmine whispered into Huey's ear. Huey maintained his bone-chilling stare at the proctor, whom returned the stare with equivalent vigor.

"Okay smartass. I'll let you both off on a warning since I didn't correctly read the script. But the next time I see you discussing answers with each other or other students, I will invalidate your test scores. Take my word for it because I never break my promises."

Huey shook his head disapprovingly at the proctor as he walked back into the testing room, which was the cafeteria of the school. As the proctor opened the door, a blast of arctic air rushed through the entrance and hit Huey and Jazmine with full force.

"Brr…" Jazmine shivered, easily affected by the cold wind rushing through the door to the cafeteria. She neglected to bring a jacket to keep her warm as she decided to wear a tank top and skinny jeans. Not the best protection or anticipation for the worst possible testing conditions, but at least she was almost finished with the college entrance exam. "Why do they keep that room so cold? People could catch influenza in there!"

Huey shrugged in return and stared into Jazmine's green eyes. They glinted in the sunlight as their eyes locked.

"So…what exactly are you giving me after this test is over?" Jazmine asked, referring to Huey's philanthropy and his bestowment. Huey had to ponder on what she was talking about for a few seconds. His sharp memory uncovered what she was referring to and he replied.

"It's a secret." Huey said nonchalantly, and shrugged his shoulders again. Then Huey stood up and walked over to the cafeteria entrance as their fifteen-minute break had expired. Jazmine sighed, shaking her head as she couldn't help but smile at Huey. She got up and followed Huey back into the cafeteria.

"Riley! RILEY! Help me, my poor old Black ass is dying over here!" Granddad shouted as he discharged his phlegm-filled coughs. Finally, Riley appeared with a scowl on his face. "Gimmie the 'tussin, boy. C'mon, you want your old granddaddy to die?"

"Sometimes, I wish." Riley muttered darkly under his breath.

"What did you say, boy? You want an ass whuppin?"

"Granddad, yo fat ass couldn't even whup nobody's ass no mo." Riley interjected.

"Mah ass ain't fat. Look at dat," Granddad mooned Riley and shook his gluteus maximus as if to advertise his sex appeal…luckily he was still wearing his pants, "my ass is sexy!"

Riley burst out laughing, as he crumpled to the floor under the weight of what he perceived was his Granddad's comical joke.

"Granddad, you so fat, you look like a humpback whale!"

"Boy, Imma hump your back with my belt if you don't shut the fuck up!"

"Pause."

"Pause? PAUSE? Riley, what do you think we live in, a TiVo box?"

"Naw Granddad, when you say something gay you gotta say no homo."

"I didn't say nothing gay! I just said imma hump yo back with my belt!"

"PAUSE, GRANDDAD! You gotta say no homo! How do I know you not a homo if you don't say no homo?"

"I don't wanna say no homo! Imma homo yo ass if you don't stop saying pause!"

"…Pause."

"Boy, git over here!" Granddad whipped his belt in time to bludgeon Riley with his belt. Riley cackled as he sped out of sight and out of reach of the slowing Granddad and his deteriorating health.

"Boy! You didn't even give me the 'tussin! You betta git back here!"

"Get it yourself, Granddad!" Riley cackled from the safety of the second floor landing.

Riley noticed Granddad's car pulling up into the driveway from his view on the second floor. Through the window, he saw Huey in the driver's seat and Jazmine in the passenger's seat. Apparently, Huey offered her a ride back since her father had already vanished from Woodcrest for his business trip to Philadelphia. Immediately, Riley became enraged when the realization dawned on him that Granddad gave Huey his car Dorothy, while Huey still hadn't bestowed upon him his old car.

"Aye, Granddad! When am I gettin' a car?"

"What the hell you runnin yo mouth off about a car fo'?"

"Mane, you gave Huey yo car! Why ain't he given me his old one?"

"The hell if I know. I ain't the one you should be talkin' to!"

"Oh, you gon' get it now, Huey." Riley muttered under his breath.

Huey cut the engine off and removed the keys from his ignition as Jazmine emerged from the car. Riley saw Huey gesture to Jazmine, possibly inviting her inside his house, as she was about to make her way across the street. Riley ran down the stairs in anticipation of Huey's arrival through the front door and strategically positioned himself close to the door.

"OW! What the hell!"

As soon as Huey walked through the door with Jazmine in tow, he endured a forceful punch in the face from Riley. Jazmine emanated a soft squeal as Riley surprised her with his blunt reflexes.

"Riley!" Huey shouted savagely, "what the hell was that for!"

"Mayne, why the hell haven't you given me yo' car yet! You already got Granddad's car!"

"I already told you, I'm giving it to somebody else!"

"WHAT! You ain't helpin' a nigga out! That's what brothas are fo'!"

"Sorry, but I think my car would be better utilized by the person I'm giving it to rather than you would."

"Who da hell you think is gon' make betta use of it?

"I'm giving it to Jazmine, okay?"

"You's a punk ass nigga, you know?"

"Oh, Huey! Thankyouthankyou!"

"Jus' rubbin' errything in niggas faces, huh Jazmine?" Riley asked with animosity tarnished in his voice. He made no effort to hide the sinister stare he shot with vengeance at Jazmine. Jazmine stuck her tongue out in return.

"Leave her alone. She's done nothing to you." Huey stepped in front of Jazmine, blocking Riley's harsh stares from her.

"You niggas gon' be sorry someday." Riley darkly muttered under his breath.

Huey led Jazmine through the house and into the garage, where he hit a button that opened the garage door, letting the sunlight gleam into the garage. Huey's old car was parked in the middle, which was a 1996 Saturn SC. A few years ago when he was a sophomore, Huey had an internship at a radio station, which Hiro Otomo helped him land the job. Hiro was already working as a DJ during the weekday afternoons after school, which he admitted was a peculiar job for an adolescent…to say the least. Huey, who was desperate in search of a job in order to maintain a little money for leisure spending, literally found a treasure trove when Hiro helped Huey get the job and it was enough to buy himself a car in perfect condition that was within his budget. As a result, Huey has driven the aforementioned car for the past two years with minor to no troubles.

"Get in," Huey beckoned to Jazmine, gesturing her to get into the driver's seat. Huey threw his car keys at Jazmine, she made a feeble attempt to catch the keys, which subsequently resulted in the keys falling flat onto the ground. Huey closed his eyes and shook his head disapprovingly, which Jazmine mocked him by inconspicuously.

As Jazmine climbed into the car, the first thing she noticed was the lever that was to the right of the driver's seat. What was peculiar about this specific lever was that it didn't have the typical PRNDL on it, depicting the gears for Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive and Low gear. Instead, it was a stick shift, which had numbers from one through five with a single letter "R" which represented the reverse gear.

Huey got into the passenger's seat of his old car and stared at Jazmine, who in turn was staring incredulously at the strange lever of the manual transmission car.

"Uh…Huey? I don't know how to drive stick…" Jazmine spoke with no confidence in her voice.

Huey snorted in retort, "Of course you don't. That's why I'm teaching you right now."

"Of all the cars you could have bought two years ago, you just _had_ to pick a stick shift." Jazmine complained.

"Hey, do you want a car or not? Considering your parents will never get you one, I suggest you start learning." Huey shot back, which Jazmine hastily nodded in agreement.

"Besides, did you know that manual transmission cars save more gasoline than automatics? And plus, once you learn how to drive a stick, you can control the car in ways an automatic will never be able to." Huey tried to give Jazmine consolation by listing off the benefits of driving manual transmission cars.

Jazmine stared down at the pedals, which had three instead of the usual two which were found in automatic transmission cars. She looked up at Huey with a questioning look. Before she could even fire off her question, Huey anticipated it and immediately gave her the answer without giving her a chance to ask the question.

"The pedal on the far left is your clutch. You're going to need that when you shift gears. The one in the middle is your break, which you use to stop, obviously. And the one on your right is the gas pedal. You need to learn how to press down on it precisely when you want to move forward, backward, or shift gears."

Jazmine nodded, yet still had the same dumbfounded, perplex look etched onto her face. She was definitely trying to take it all in, Huey observed, yet the sweat rolled down her forehead as she tried to comprehend all the new controls that a stick shift car had compared to an automatic.

"Okay, the first thing we're going to do is start the engine." Huey commanded. Jazmine hastily placed the key into the engine and tried to fire up the engine, which Huey immediately objected. The car did not start.

"Jazmine, the first thing you should always do is apply pressure to the clutch before firing up the ignition."

"Which one is the 'clutch' again?"

"It's the pedal on your left." Huey replied, "You have to bring the clutch all the way to the floor if you want to start the engine."

Jazmine did exactly that and turned the key in the ignition. Immediately, the car sprang to life and Jazmine let out a burst of excitement as if she had just accomplished a huge life achievement.

"Now, don't get too excited. You still have a lot of learning to do." Huey brought Jazmine's head down from the clouds and crashed her spirits back down to earth. "Now, keep your foot on the clutch. Whatever you do, _do not_ let go of it. Now put the shift lever in Reverse – I said reverse Jazmine! Not first gear!" Huey exclaimed as Jazmine placed the lever into the wrong gate.

"Hold on! Huey, I'm still learning!" Jazmine said with a noticeable tinge of nervousness filtering through her voice. After a few seconds of fiddling with the lever, she finally found the correct gate and placed it in Reverse.

"Satisfactory," Huey replied sarcastically, "I'm just glad this car hasn't blown up yet."

In response, Jazmine stuck her tongue out at Huey. Huey ignored her and continued with the lesson.

"Now, are you ready for this?" Huey asked, which Jazmine nervously nodded her head in response, "Now what you're going to do is let go of the clutch –"

Immediately, Jazmine ceased her attention and abruptly let go of the clutch without listening to the rest of Huey's commands, which made the car shake violently as the engine struggled. After a split second, the engine died off. Huey face palmed himself and shot Jazmine a death glare. Jazmine returned Huey's stare with a meek, nervous smile and shrugged in return.

"Jazmine…I want you to listen to my entire instructions before you. Do. Anything." Huey said with a cold tinge emanating through his voice. Jazmine nodded silently.

"Put the lever back in neutral and start the car again." Huey commanded.

Jazmine fiddled with the shift lever for a nerve-wracking twenty seconds. Finally, she placed the lever back in neutral and tried to start the car while forgetting the one fundamental rule of starting manual cars. For some peculiar reason, she couldn't coax the car's ignition.

"Uhm…I think you're out of –"

"It's definitely not the gasoline, Jazmine." Huey said softly, yet with a hint of vex in his voice.

Jazmine twisted the key's ignition again and finally gave up outright.

"Jazmine, you forgot to depress the clutch again." Huey simply retorted in Jazmine's exasperated defeat.

"Oh!" Jazmine replied with a bright, cheery voice. Huey rolled his eyes in response.

Finally, Jazmine fired up the engine, and was back to the same situation."

"Now, let go of the clutch _slowly_ while applying some gas."

Jazmine did exactly what Huey told, and the car _magically_ inched backward and out of the garage. Jazmine saw as she reaped the fruits of her labor and squealed as she made progress through Huey's lesson.

"Back out onto the street." Huey commanded. He was impressed with Jazmine's progress as she turned the wheel and elegantly pulled out onto the street. Jazmine let go of the gas pedal, depressed the clutch and hit the breaks. Huey was definitely impressed as she quickly learned to stop the car on her own.

"Wow. You actually know how to stop the car?" Huey asked. Jazmine mockingly stared at Huey, who shrugged in reply.

"Okay." Huey inhaled with a deep breath, then subsequently exhaled slowly as if he apprehensively anticipated the worst of what's to come. "Now put it in first gear, and _slowly_ let go of the clutch while applying some gas."

As Jazmine did what she was told, the car started to move forward. Five miles per hour…ten miles per hour. She smiled as Huey nodded approvingly at her.

"Now, you're going to need to shift into second gear. Depress the clutch again, move the lever into the second gear, then let go of the clutch and apply some gas."

Jazmine smoothly transitioned into the second gear. She let out a soft squeal of excitement, "I'm doing it! I'm driving your car, Huey!" And with that, she abruptly let go of the wheel and threw her arms around Huey in a tight embrace. Immediately, Jazmine hit the breaks without depressing the clutch again, which made the car violently convulse into a screeching stop, and the engine died once again.

Huey and Jazmine stared at each other for a few seemingly tense moments. Jazmine anticipated Huey to lash out at her, yet unexpectedly, Huey's lips curled upwards into a smile, and he snorted and subsequently burst out laughing as Jazmine stared at him incredulously. Then, Jazmine joined Huey in their laughing session.

Finally, after Jazmine and Huey settled down, Jazmine started the car…this time without Huey's help. She drove the car, shifting to second gear with ease, then to third gear…and then fourth gear. Before either Jazmine or Huey realized it, she was cruising down the residential roads at forty miles per hour, much to the surprise to Huey, who thought utter chaos would ensue the day Jazmine learned to drive his car.

"You're doing impressive, Jazmine!" Huey exclaimed. "Do you want to try to drive all the way to the park?"

Jazmine stared at Huey with a noticeable smile on her face. "Of course!"

Thirty minutes of navigating through congested roads, Jazmine had only stalled the car two times in the middle of the road, but she quickly recovered both times and were well on their way to the park. Huey was blatantly impressed by Jazmine's progress. He never expected Jazmine to master the learning curve of manual transmission driving. Finally, Jazmine found a parking spot and they walked towards the park to find a spot under the shade. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon at the park, where the breeze nonchalantly ruffled through their hair. A few neighborhood children were playing Tee-Ball in the park next to a glistening, sparkling lake.

"You know, I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me today, Huey." Jazmine said as they both made their way to a large tree overlooking the blue lake. The lake reflected the perfect blue sky above it, which was made even more bedazzling as the sun gleamed through a few clouds.

"Don't mention it." Huey simply replied. They finally reached the tree and sat down under it. Huey gave Jazmine a sub they bought from a sandwich shop downtown and he took a wolfing bite out of it.

"No really, I mean it. I mean, I don't think my parents would ever give me a car at this rate." Jazmine took the sub Huey handed to her and she stared at her shoes. Huey stared at Jazmine, and noticed a faint essence of downtrodden spirits within her.

"Well, that's why I gave you the car. I realize you never got a car when I always see you walking to school everyday. That's why I always let you carpool nowadays."

"Huey, my parents are never home these days. They're always doing things out of state." Jazmine made no effort to hide the melancholy creeping into her tone. Huey was shocked to see _Jazmine_ of all people get downtrodden all of a sudden. He immediately had to step in and ask why such a person with invincible spirits could become so melancholy within a split second.

"I'm sorry Jazmine. But there's probably a logical reason why. Maybe their jobs were relocated out of state or something."

"Huey, they're _lawyers_. Unless they're taking up a landmark case, lawyers don't travel out of state to take up cases."

"I don't know, Jazmine. But there's always a logical –"

Immediately, Jazmine interjected through Huey's statement.

"Oh yeah, Huey. Then there's a logical reason why my mom is sleeping with the Senator from New York." She said with a hint of anger reverberating through her tone of voice. Jazmine hadn't realized her vision was blurred. Her amber eyes were swimming in tears, which began to cascade down her cheeks.

Huey's jaw went ajar. He couldn't imagine what his ears were hearing.

"How do you know if your mom is –" But once again, his question was interrupted by Jazmine.

"Because! Huey, I saw her kissing him months ago!" Jazmine made no attempt to stem the tears flooding her face at this point. "Huey, my mom is cheating! I don't know what to do anymore! Sometimes I think she's neglecting our family…she's neglecting _me_ as a _daughter_."

"Jazmine…" Huey spoke softly. Immediately, Jazmine threw her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"I don't know what to do, Huey. I just don't. I give up. I've been witnessing my mom with him for the past six months." Jazmine openly wept into Huey's shoulder. Huey patted Jazmine in the back in an attempt to console her. "That's why it means a lot to me when you gave me your old car. I know my parents don't give a _rat's ass_ about me anymore."

"No, Jazmine. That's not the case. Tom and Sarah love you."

"Then why don't they show it! They're always leaving me alone in the house!"

Huey kept his mouth shut. Jazmine made a strong point in her argument. Huey held Jazmine out at arms length and stared directly into her sparkling amber pupils as the sun's rays gleamed onto her tear-filled eyes.

"Trust me Jazmine. They care about you. I care about you."

"Thank you, Huey." Jazmine barely kept her voice above a whisper.

"Huey?" Jazmine asked, sniffling between words.

"Hm?" Huey's auburn pupils locked onto Jazmine's tear-obscured amber ones.

"Promise me you'll never leave me."

This sounded strangely familiar to Huey. Immediately, he recalled the day where he was openly weeping about his parent's fate in the bleachers the day Riley was threatened by a rival gang member. He remembered asking Jazmine to never leave him, to which Jazmine agreed. He remembered it as clear as the day, and emotions coursed through his body when he received the assuaging consolation of Jazmine's promise.

"Jazmine, I will never leave you. I promise."

"Pinky promise?" Jazmine held out her pinky as if it were required to never break promises once they swore upon their smallest digit on their hands.

"Pinky promise," Huey wrapped his pinky around Jazmine's, thus cementing Huey and Jazmine's promises.

Jazmine and Huey stared into each other's eyes intently. After a few peaceful moments, Jazmine slowly brought her head towards Huey's. Before Huey could realize what was going on, Jazmine slowly closed her eyes and their lips met. Huey closed his eyes, wrapping hands around Jazmine's neck and brought her closer to him as they shared their first passionate kiss. Jazmine could feel what seemed like liquid fire coursing through her veins as Huey ran his hands down to Jazmine's curving waist. Finally, after what seemed like the remaining duration of eternal time, Huey and Jazmine slowly pulled away. Jazmine let her head rest on Huey's chest as she felt the strong thudding of Huey's heart.

For what seemed like an eternity, Jazmine felt a strange yet relaxing feeling as she and Huey embraced each other under the tree. They watched as swans waded across the lake. A few remote-controlled boats raced across the lake, controlled by two children on the banks of the waters. Jazmine placed her head softly on Huey's broad shoulders. For once, she did not worry for a moment in her life. She felt as long as she was with Huey, nothing in this world would tear their strong bond apart. Her spirits were reinvigorated. As long as Huey was there for her, her problems were nonexistent.

"I want to thank you, Huey. For everything. I had a great time with you." Jazmine said as she pulled up into her driveway.

"Don't worry about it." Huey said. He saw the sun set in the west as nightfall was upon them. Huey opened the door to his old car and emerged from it. Jazmine did the same and both she and Huey met as Huey was about to walk towards his house across the street.

"It means a lot to me. It really does."

Huey placed his hands around Jazmine's hips and held her at arms' length. He stared into her eyes. Her eyes noticeably gleamed with gratification as she looked into Huey's dark auburn eyes. Huey walked Jazmine over to her front door and they shared the last remaining moments with each other, drinking each other's image.

"So does this mean –?" Jazmine began to ask, but Huey immediately answered her question with a kiss. Jazmine began to stand on her tiptoes to push herself into Huey's kiss.

"Yes, it does." Huey simply answered after their kiss. Jazmine's cheeks slightly colored at Huey's response. She opened the door that led to the entrance to her house as Huey slowly walked down the steps and back to his house across the street. Jazmine softly shut the door behind her, leaning against the frame as she slowly slid down onto the floor. She softly brought her hand to her cheek as she was smitten by Huey's show of emotions.

Huey made his way across the street and up the steps leading to his front door to his house. Huey turned the lock and entered through the door, immediately sensing something gone awry. The lights in the kitchen were still on, yet Granddad was nowhere to be found. As Huey made his way into the kitchen, he saw a pot overboiling on the stove, its contents spilling onto the hot plate underneath. Huey rushed into the kitchen and turned the stove off.

"_Odd. Why would Granddad leave his cooking unattended?"_ Huey thought to himself. He snapped around as he heard the front door open and slam shut seconds later as he heard somebody ambling into the house. Huey rushed over to the hallway and saw Riley standing in front of him. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Aye. Whats da matta wit'chu? You looks like you just seens a ghost." Riley said.

"I can't find Granddad. You know where he is?" Huey's sense of apprehension returning to his nerves.

"Like hell I do. Why?"

"He left all the lights on inside the house and he left the stove running. That's not like him at all." Huey said.

"Psh. His ass got Parkinson's. That's all derr is to it."

"No Riley. Granddad has always preached about leaving things on in the house. He would never disregard his own rules."

"Damn! You talkin' to me like I know shit!" Riley shot back.

"Whatever." Huey retorted.

Immediately, Huey set out to find Granddad. He was nowhere to be found, and the more Huey spent time trying to find Granddad, the more his nerves were invaded with apprehensiveness.

"Granddad?" Huey asked throughout the house. Each time he said Granddad's name, his inquisition would be met with a silent response. Huey began to get desperate as Riley followed close behind him. Riley could tell his brother was growing worried as Huey hastily ran upstairs.

"Granddad! Where are you!" Huey shouted into the hallway.

"Damn nigga, what you worryin' fo? Maybe he went out on a date!"

"Right Riley. Ignore the fact that he would leave the lights and stove on in the house while also leaving his car in my ownership. Yeah, he's _definitely_ on a date." Huey shot back with a sarcastic retort.

After a few minutes of hasty searching, Huey approached a figure sprawled on the floor of the master's bedroom. He narrowed his eyes as he rushed over to it in time to see –

"Granddad! Wake up!" Huey shouted as he shook Granddad violently.

"What da hell is wrong wit dat old nigga?" Riley shouted, fear rising in his inflection.

"Riley, go call 911! NOW!" Huey shouted as Riley was frozen on the spot.

"Granddad!" Huey remembered Granddad's bone chilling words on that dreary November morning, the morning when Huey was struck with the news of his grandfather's terminal illness.

"_Huey, these old bones don't work the way they used to."_

"_Granddad, what's going on?"_

"_Huey, I got checked out for cancer a week ago. The results came back and my doctors told me I had mesothelioma for the past three years. The cancer had metastasized from my lung into every tissue in my body."_

Huey hadn't noticed it, but his vision of his Granddad lying on the bedroom floor gradually blurred away under the veil of tears forming in his eyes. Riley was still rooted on the spot, frozen in fear of the prospect of his one and only caretaker being dead. Huey's tears cascaded down his cheek as he shook his Granddad in a vain attempt to wake him.

"_Huey, I'm going to die next year."_

Huey sniffled and he brought his sleeve to his eyes as he tried to wipe the tears from his face.

"No. Granddad, no." Huey softly spoke.

Immediately, his Granddad's eyes opened up and locked gazes with the shellshocked Huey.

"Boy, what you cryin' fo? You lookin' like you came from a funeral!" Granddad exclaimed as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Huey straightened up, giving one last sniffle before contorting his facial expression into a harsh scowl.

Granddad emanated another phlegm-filled cough as he struggled to get up. Huey held out a hand to help his grandfather up, but Granddad instead got up by himself, refusing to take his grandson's hand.

"Granddad, why were you passed out on the floor?" Huey asked. Riley was still rooted to the spot with his eyes bulging out of their sockets.

"What, you granddaddy can't rest on for a second? Damn chilluns."

"You were resting," Huey asked with a misbelieving tone.

"Yes, I was." Granddad confirmed with a sharp tone.

"And you left the stove and lights on downstairs in the kitchen," Huey asked, once again his tone not believing a word coming out of his Granddad's mouth.

"What! You boys left the lights on in this house! How many times do I gotta tell you! Damn grandkids. Always trying to jack up my utility bills. Can't wait for them to get out my house!" Granddad muttered under his breath. He walked out of the room and down the stairs toward the kitchen, effectively ending any conversation about the strange incident. Huey scowled as his Granddad's figure walked out of the room.

"What the hell could be wrong with him?" Huey asked at Riley. Though he may have already formulated an answer to his own question.

"Dat damn nigga jus' stupid. Getting all old an' shit. Damn, hope I never reach dat age. Hope I die young." Riley cackled.

Huey cringed at Riley's statement.

"You don't know anything." Huey softly retorted at Riley. "You don't know a thing."

Riley stared menacingly towards Huey as he walked out of the room and down the stairs.

"And _you_ don't know anything either. Jus' cause you all smart an' shit don't mean you know more 'bout dis world than I do. Punk ass nigga." Riley snorted as Huey slowly walked down the stairs, his eyes hidden behind the veil of the shadow cast on his face. Huey hung his head, staring at the ground as he realized the prospect of the dangers of losing both Riley and Granddad soon.

* * *

Uh oh...looks like we have a little bit of foreshadowing. Hope you guys enjoyed yet another Huey/Jazmine chapter. And I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. If anybody had to learn stick shift with an impatient instructor like Huey was, then you know how I feel. Yes, Huey and Jazmine are finally in a relationship...but I'm only going to say that it won't end in a...happy way. I should probably shut my mouth before I give myself away.

I would like to thank KODfreak, MissG2020, and DaveTheWordsmith for your reviews!

Disclaimer: _I don't own The Boondocks. Aaron McGruder, The Universal Press Syndicate and Sony Pictures Television owns the comic strip and the television show._


	7. Forty Ounces to Salvation

Forty Ounces to Salvation

"Make sure you have your speech ready. You want to make a good impression on the students."

Huey Freeman prepared for his speech to Woodcrest High School. This occasion marked the first time in over twenty years that Huey has set foot in his alma mater yet to Huey himself, he could remember his four adolescent years spent at Woodcrest High. His senior year was the most hectic of them all, but it wasn't due to all the preparations for college. Throughout his senior year, Huey sensed a rift opening in his once close-knit circle of friends. A helpless seventeen-year-old Huey Freeman watched as relations between his friends began to drift. Eventually…by the time his senior year was finished, only him and Jazmine remained in Woodcrest. But even such strong connections such as the one Huey and Jazmine emphatically shared can easily sever…

Woodcrest High School was one of two high schools in the town, the other being Ed Wuncler Senior High School, which had a fierce rivalry with Woodcrest High. During Huey's Senior year, their football team had a game scheduled with Ed Wuncler Senior High, to which Huey was literally dragged to by his friend Caesar. Unlike Caesar, Huey didn't give a rat's ass about sports, which resulted in comical arguments between the two best friends. During the game, students from Ed Wuncler High infiltrated Woodcrest High School's side of the stadium and instigated a few fights. Sure enough, the inevitable happened: a fierce riot erupted in the stands, and eventually spilled over into the field. Huey often looked down upon the irrationalities of passionate sports fans. He even went so far to make a long oration to Caesar after the game that "professional athletes are just a bunch of pompous, dimwitted, narcissistic buffoons." Of course, Caesar only laughed at Huey's prophetic observations.

Huey arrived at his old High School, where the principal greeted him at the front office. Huey's staff of assistants accompanied him as he casually walked towards the school.

"Hi, Mayor Freeman. It's good to see that an alumni such as yourself is giving inspiration to your alma mater's students."

Huey looked around with eerie familiarity, noticing nothing has changed in the school. It looked as if not one thing was touched since his Graduation day.

"So where am I delivering my speech?"

"Oh, that won't be for another few hours. Instead, I think you will be delighted if we give you a tour around your old school and see what has changed since you left."

In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Huey couldn't bear to walk through the halls of his old school, lest even more memories of strife and infighting between his friends be acknowledged in Huey's mind. Huey's cowardice could scantly be seen on his face, as it slightly contorted into a sour expression.

Noticing the principal stare at him, Huey wiped the look off his face, and with his newfound bravery, swallowed the poison pill.

"Sure, I'd love to have a tour."

"Right. Follow me."

The principal acted as if he didn't notice the hint of sarcasm in Huey's voice. Yet he couldn't help but be beleagured by what seemed like sorrow mixed in with the sarcasm.

After walking through the courtyard, Huey couldn't help but notice his memory inducing hallucinations onto his vision. Huey saw the spectral projections of Caesar, Cindy, Jazmine and Hiro underneath the same tree they always hung out beneath. Within an instant, the ghosts wisped away in the wind, raising goose bumps along Huey's arms.

Huey realized where the principal was leading him. After walking through corridors, a double door opened up to a large field, possibly several acres large. This field contained the football stadium, baseball field, track course, tennis courts, and soccer fields.

"As you can see, we built a new football field. After the riot during your Senior year, the stands collapsed. Luckily, nobody was injured, but we had to demolish the old one and replace it with a new one. What's strange is we never won a football game against Ed Wuncler Senior High ever since. Maybe we've been cursed with the new stadium."

The principal offered the suggestion of blaming their unfortunate stretch of losses to a supposed curse.

Huey was never one who believed in superstitions. _Superstition is the religion of feeble minds_. Huey always kept that quote in mind, yet it's been years since he could remember the name of the wise man who once spoke it.

"You know, superstitions are created by people whose minds are too debilitated to the point where they try to find a substitution for their ignorance in a vain attempt to hide their idiocy? Whenever these people encounter a situation they cannot explain blatantly, said people usually create ignorant ideas to attempt to understand said situations."

Huey's truth spewing mouth seemed to have angered the principal. His face grew red hot, Huey was surprised steam wasn't erupting from the principal's ears. Huey just had a knack for choosing the right times to be blatantly honest.

"What, Mr. Freeman, do you suggest in explaining why we haven't won a game against Ed Wuncler High since 2007?"

Huey shrugged. "I don't know, maybe you guys just suck at recruiting a better football coaching staff."

The principal nearly lashed out at Huey. However, he came back down to Earth when he realized Huey was a public officer, and there was a possibility that Huey would have him arrested should he land one finger on Huey.

"Don't worry. He's is always like that."

One of Huey's assistants chimed in, taking with her some of the tension in the atmosphere.

"Right. Let's move on."

Huey was led across the field toward the baseball fields, which elicited better memories. It was his senior year when his high school baseball team recruited him for the upcoming spring Baseball season. Although Huey always had a repugnance towards anything that dealt with sports, he was forced to play under unusual circumstances. Huey could remember the day he was recruited like it was yesterday. It was an autumn October afternoon, when the baseball team usually held tryouts for the upcoming Spring baseball season. Huey could also sense a feeling of foreboding as he also remembered that this also coincided with Caesar's precipitous fall from glory.

* * *

_October 16__th__, 2006_

"Damn. It's hot as a stripper out here."

It was a scalding hot _October_ afternoon during Huey's final year in High School. Although it was technically autumn, it seemed like an uncharacteristically hot day was upon them – hot even for _summer_ standards. Why the Physical Education coach even decided to bring his class out during a heat wave was beyond anyone's comprehension. Huey was sitting in the bleachers above home plate at the school's baseball field. Jazmine, who had Huey's same Physical Education class, sat next to him as they were waiting for their baseball team's practice to get over with so they can play a good old fashioned game of kickball.

_Kickball my ass. It's hotter than 90 degrees out here._

"Jazmine," Huey tapped her shoulder for her attention "you see that tree over there? We could sit underneath it and wait there."

Jazmine happily agreed with Huey and followed him underneath the tree adjacent to third base.

The microclimate underneath the tree was significantly cooler than the bleachers. Immediately after sitting down in the tree's shade, a cool, relieving breeze nonchalantly blew around them. It was a satisfactory shelter from underneath the sun's oppressive rays.

Jazmine yawned and placed her head on Huey's shoulder. Usually, Huey would have objected if this was any other person, yet he allowed Jazmine to do things he usually snapped at other people at should they dare attempt it. They were both silent. This came at a time in their relationship when they wouldn't say a word to each other and they would understand their body languages as if they it was their own esoteric idioms. Hell, after they spend hours on the phone talking, they'd spend _another_ hour or two not saying a word, listening to each other's soft yet steady breathing on the phone.

"Wake me up when we're up next." Jazmine softly spoke.

They spent a peaceful half hour in each other's company until the baseball team finished.

Whether baseball attracts jackasses, or whether baseball makes jackasses at Woodcrest High is a question that may never be answered. Yet it always seemed like the players on the baseball team strutted around school as if they owned the damn place. Just because they've won the State championship back-to-back seemed to give the baseball players a birthright to leapfrog over the football players in the social order at Woodcrest High.

It was this attitude that got Huey recruited into the baseball team – not because Huey wanted to be part of a high-ranking camarilla at his high school. The last thing Huey was or wanted to be was a pathetic narcissistic athlete. What got him recruited was under unusual circumstances concerning the narcissistic traits of Darius Johnson, a star pitcher at Woodcrest, and Huey's strong pitching arm, which was previously showcased at a kickball tournament he was forced to play in when he was 10 years old.

Darius Johnson had a significantly stronger build than most adolescents his age. Standing and seven feet, one inch, Darius would tower over everybody in the school. His body wasn't the only advantage he had in baseball; his pitches were speedy, tricky and accurate. These traits combined with a synergetic alliance that made Darius a formidable presence on the pitcher's mound. How Darius acquired these traits was beyond anybody's guess. At one point, a student dared to open his speculating mouth, guessing Darius took steroids. The aforementioned kid was eerily never heard from again.

"Aye! Perry! Git over here!"

Darius motioned towards another pitcher, Bryce Perry after baseball practice was over. They were standing in the outfield, a good distance from Huey and Jazmine. Perry nonchalantly made his way towards Darius, while spitting a few sunflower seed remnants out of his mouth.

"How much you wanna bet that I can hit the kid with the big hair underneath that tree?"

"What, you mean Huey Freeman? He has to be at least 250 feet away. I don't think you got a chance in hell that you'll hit him…even if his huge 'fro makes him a slightly easier target." Perry replaced the sunflower seeds he spat with fresh ones in his mouth.

"Tell you what, if I hit him, you gotta pay me 20 bucks."

Perry tried to interject, but Darius spoke before Perry said a word.

"_And_, if I hit his afro, you gotta gimme fifty bucks."

Perry immediately choked on the several sunflower seed shells that somehow found its way into Perry's trachea. To Darius, this seemed like his choking friend was scoffing at his proposal.

"Fine, but if that baseball does _not_ hit Huey, what's in it for me?"

"What's in it fo' you? Tell you what, imma melt down mah State championship ring an' all mah chains into an' mold it in the shape of your name. How's dat?"

This seemingly unfair and unwise deal pleased Perry.

"Okay. Shoot."

"Hold on, man! I gotta throw this ball _accurately_, ya dig?"

Perry stared incredulously at his friend. Darius simply shrugged in reply.

After calculating the distance to Huey, the direction and strength of the wind, and how strong he should throw the ball, Darius placed the ball in his glove and got in his pitching stance. Fancily kicking his leg up, Darius launched the ball with brute force at Huey, and smirked as the trajectory brought the ball closer and closer…

_WHAM!_

"AWW, MAN! Did you see dat?" Darius exclaimed at Perry, shouting loud enough to make Perry's left ear ring. In response, Perry spat another round of sunflower seed remnants onto the field below.

The ball, traveling at 90 miles per hour was significantly faster than most High School baseball pitchers in the county, if not the entire state of Maryland. With the brute speed the ball was traveling, it impaled Huey's forehead as he calmly rested underneath the tree adjacent to third base.

"You gotta pay up!"

"Fine. Here."

Darius, satisfied with his newfound 50 dollars, smirked at Perry. Perry returned a stare questioning Darius' perceived idiocy.

250 feet away, a fuming Huey Freeman was holding his forehead, from which emanated a stinging pain. Stars obscured his vision, and all he cared about was beating the living daylights out of Darius Johnson.

Jazmine woke up to the hurricane of curse words polluting the atmosphere around her as Huey held his forehead and tried to get the ball out of his afro, which he did not understand how the ball got there in the first place. Muttering curses that would make a nun cringe, Huey was grappling his afro, searching for the ball stuck inside the complex matrix of hair.

Once Huey's vision cleared up, he became even more infuriated as he saw Darius on the ground kicking the air as he struggled to breathe through his laugh attack.

"Here, let me – Huey! Just hold still! Let me get it!" Jazmine exclaimed as Huey swatted Jazmine's attempt at helping him get the baseball out of his hair. "Maybe if you cut your hair, this wouldn't have happened in the first place."

Huey stared at Jazmine for a few seconds with a disbelieving look, and then resumed forcefully combing through his hair for the ball.

"What? I was only trying to help." Jazmine looked at Huey with an innocent puppy look.

"Maybe you could help if you got this damned ball out of my hair!"

"Well, wasn't that what I tried to do a few moments ago?"

"AARGH!" Huey responded with exasperation.

Jazmine, giggling to herself reached into Huey's hair and pulled the ball out with ease. She presented it to Huey, who was still staring at Darius.

If stares could kill…

"Thank you" Huey said and promptly acquired the ball from Jazmine's hands.

"Uh, Darius? You might wanna watch out." Perry warned, noticing Huey both had a death stare in his eyes and the baseball in his hands.

"Nonsense, what's the nigga gonna do? Try to throw that ball back at me?"

Unfortunately for Darius, that was exactly what Huey did.

Huey stood up, examining the environment between him and Darius intently, as if calculating how far and how fast he should throw the ball. He gripped the ball with his thumb, pointer and middle finger with ease and fell into a pitching stance. Immediately, Huey's muscles tensed. He used his body like a gun turret and flexed his leg muscle and abdominals to throw his entire body weight with force to launch the ball with the his entire body mass' inertia behind the ball. From Perry's perspective, it seemed like the baseball was launched out of a cannon. The ball was nothing but a blur to those who could even manage to train an eye on it. Perry had to react quickly, or Darius would be spending a week in a coma at Woodcrest General Hospital.

The ball was moving so fast that it left a long gash along the ground in its path. The wind that blew when the ball passed was strong enough to uproot the weeds that were once planted firmly in the ground. Perry jumped in front of Darius and into the screaming baseball's path, and held the glove in front of him.

"SLAM!"

The next thing Perry felt was a surge of pain in his hand, breaking his wrist and fracturing the bones in his forearm. The wind that followed the ball along its trajectory blew around him, ripping his baseball jersey apart and into shreds. The force of the ball knocked him down, while his glove continued to move along with the ball's inertia.

In fact, the inertia of the ball was more than enough to send Perry's glove flying out of his hand. His bare hand was steaming red when his glove popped out, exposing a deformed hand. The glove continued to travel a good 40 or so feet away from the roughed up Perry. Finally, the glove landed softly with a _thud_ on the grass roughly 50 feet away from its owner. The ball rolled out of the glove, which was emitting _smoke_, while his glove gave off a strange smell of _burning rubber_.

This scene caused Darius to immediately stop chortling, as he surveyed the situation that had just turned his surroundings into what looked like a battlefield: a wounded Perry, a large canyon in the ground that marked the baseball's path which traced back to Huey, and a steaming piece of shrapnel that was once a baseball.

"Holy sh—"

Perry was interrupted as he saw his pitching coach run up to him.

"Perry! Holy smokes! We need to get you to a hospital! Looks like your season's over, kid!"

Darius couldn't help but look at Huey, who was staring at him with a murderous eagle eye. After a few moments, Darius smirked at Huey and picked up what remained of the ball. Surveying it, Darius lofted it into the air, where it unraveled in midair and landed with a soft thud, exposing the inner parts.

"Freeman!" The head baseball coach called Huey. "Come here!"

Huey and Jazmine exchanged glances, and both reluctantly marched over to the seemingly furious baseball coach. Their physical education coach also walked over to him as well. Although the team's coach was across the baseball diamond, walking there seemed like traversing from coast to coast. Huey's perception of time slowed as he was apprehensively expecting the baseball coach to give him suspension…yet judging by the way the coach was staring at him…an execution.

By the time Huey got face to face with the baseball coach, he was asked one question.

"What the _hell _was that? I have never seen someone throw a ball that fast!"

Huey shrugged. "It was a fastball."

"Damn right it was! Coach Edgely," he gestured to Huey's physical education coach "You're staring at the next Nolan Ryan!"

Huey stared at the babbling baseball coach with an extreme disbelief. He was half-expecting the coach to mushroom with anger, not act like a kid with a new toy.

"Freeman, would you like to play for the baseball team?"

Initially, Huey couldn't formulate a response. He was still expecting the baseball coach to go nuclear on his ass. Finally, after what seemed like a suspenseful five seconds, Huey's mouth began to form words.

"No. I think sports are just an exhibition of barbarianism, considering that all you do is throw, run, and hit, while I could be doing something more productive to the society I live in. I see no benefit to pledging my allegiance to a team that has no significant influence against the oppression of minorities in a country in which institutional racism has become the status quo."

Wrong answer.

"Freeman, when I asked you if you would like to take Perry's spot right here," motioning toward Perry, who was in a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance, "I didn't give you an option to decline the offer." The baseball coach threatened.

"And what if I do? By law, I have my rights to reject any deal offered to me."

"Well, Mr. Freeman, you may have your rights to reject an offer, but I am also allowed by law to file a lawsuit against you, considering you have impaled one of my star pitchers, who is solely my responsibility to ensure he gets compensated for the damages you have inflicted upon him." The coach said with a low, deathly growl.

Huey fell silent. Jazmine shifted around, sensing how abruptly tense the environment became. Huey glared into the baseball coach's eyes, who only returned the stare. Neither of them blinked for a few tense moments. Finally, Huey retorted.

"Fine. I'll try out for your stupid sport. But I'm not going to play for more than one season."

"Of course you won't. You're a senior, remember?" The coach retorted, "By the way, my name is Coach Girardi."

"Pleasure to meet you, Girardi." Huey said sarcastically while he rolled his eyes.

"I want you right here Mondays through Fridays after school for practice. We usually end practice at around six-thirty in the evening. On Saturdays, we meet up at the front of school at eight in the morning and do land-based conditioning like cross-country until noon. I want you to come to every practice, you hear?"

"Yeah. Whatever."

"This is no joke Freeman. I think you're going to be a big shot!"

"Uh-huh."

"Oh, and your tryout is tomorrow after school. Let's see how fast you could really pitch."

And with that, Coach Girardi left with his baseball team, heading back towards the gym. Girardi was talking excitedly among his assistant coaches, blatantly electrified by recruiting a potentially new star on the team. The only baseball player who remained was Darius, who came up to Huey and introduced himself.

"Let's see how well you could really pitch. That was just luck. Dumb luck." Darius said with a tinge of skepticism in his voice. And with that, Darius turned and followed his team into the gym.

Huey didn't say anything but stared at Darius with one that could burn a hole through Darius' head. Darius may have been hallucinating…or even hating, because to any person of sound mind, throwing a ball fast enough to rupture the ground beneath it, severely injuring a full-grown baseball player, and possessing enough strength to blast someone's glove out of their hand with a speeding bullet of a ball was not dumb luck at all.

"Hello? Earth to Huey!" Jazmine attempted to get through to Huey.

"Huh?" Huey tore his attention away from Darius.

"C'mon! The kickball game is about to start!"

Exactly twenty-six hours later, Huey found himself in baseball uniform, complete with his last name and number on the back of his jersey.

"Freeman, number seven. You're up!" The pitching coach yelled through a megaphone. This specific coach just seemed to have an obsession with megaphones, since he couldn't even carry out a normal conversation without shouting through one.

Huey stood on the pitcher's mound, staring at the catcher 60 feet in front of him. The pitching coach, Coach Hoock, held a radar gun to measure Huey's pitch speed.

"Anytime you're ready, Freeman!"

Huey closed his eyes, eased his muscles, and gathered his thoughts. He focused on the catcher in front of him, knowing that 60 feet might not be a good buffer for his devastating throw. Instead, he decided to throw with at a moderate strength. His muscles guided his body and used its inertia to force his arm in forward momentum, releasing the ball like a cannon.

The ball sped into the catcher's mitt, and did not stop there.

Instead, the ball continued forward, forcing the catcher to recoil into the backstop, which finally halted the ball's forward momentum. In response, the catcher lifted up a white flag, as if signaling for surrender.

"Holy _smokes_! I sure as hell _know_ this radar gun does NOT say 99 miles per hour!" Coach Hoock shouted through the megaphone.

This caught coach Girardi's attention. "Well check the radar gun! It might be in kilometer per hour mode!"

After a brief inspection, Coach Hoock confirmed his greatest fear, which was also Coach Girardi's greatest expectation.

"Yeah, it _is _in miles per hour!"

Coach Girardi went over to Hoock and snatched the radar gun from him. He inspected it, fiddling with the knobs and switches.

"Okay, Freeman. One more time, anytime."

Huey focused on the catcher, who was injected with a large dose of anxiety. He could see the catcher shaking in his equipment, and his facial expression behind his mask read something along the lines of _please don't kill me! I'm too young to die!_

Huey nodded to Coach Girardi, and prepared to fire another throw at the catcher, only this time at full strength.

The ball raced at the catcher like an unseen vengeful blur. The catcher decided to make a run for it, and surprisingly made it out at the last split-second as the ball came crashing into the backstop, devastating the area where the catcher was sitting just _milliseconds_ before. The ball left a gaping,_ smoking_ hole in the backstop, where splintered wood was scattered across the area and a large crater was left where the ball landed.

"Fuck this, I'm outta here!" The catcher shouted, and took off without saying another word.

"Git back here, boy! You ain't going nowhere!" Coach Girardi shouted at his fourth-string catcher. "If you actually wanna see playing time this season, I suggest you stay here and catch for this here Huey Freeman."

"Hell no! I'd rather catch for Darius Johnson than him! Anybody but him!"

Coach Hoock was impressed by Huey's ability to pitch with power and precision, something that is considered a rarity in High School.

"Girardi, I think Huey's made the team," Coach Hoock suggested "and I think we should send that coward catcher back to the junior varsity or freshman team."

"Good observation. I think Huey's gonna be a great advantage against Ed Wuncler High this year," Coach Girardi referred to their district rival across town. "By the way, what was Huey's last pitch speed?"

Coach Hoock gave Girardi the radar gun, as if he didn't need to say a word. Coach Girardi stared through disbelieving eyes, looking as if he just saw a spectral apparition.

The radar blinked _109 miles per hour_.

And Coach Girardi knew there has never been anyone in Major League Baseball history who pitched with that much power and precision…

_Until now._

"So Huey, I heard you got recruited by the baseball team!"

"Yeah, who cares?"

"Who cares? _Who Cares?_ Huey, you could very well be the next star pitcher from Woodcrest High and all you can say about this is _who cares?_" Caesar incredulously exclaimed at Huey as he and Jazmine walked over to the soccer stadium.

It had only been one day since Huey was drafted as the next starting pitcher for their so called "elite" baseball team, yet somehow the news spread faster than the speed of light throughout the entire school. Caesar, being the captain of their soccer team, heard the news first from his coach. And with the big mouth that was planted on his face, Caesar began to spread the news like an infectious virus.

"Caesar, I was recruited because I inadvertently injured Bryce Perry. If recruiting people is synonymous with accidents, then I'm living in an upside down world."

"Good god, Huey. When you were young, did you lose your eyeballs? 'Cuz it seems like a misanthrope donated their eyes to you years ago."

"No."

"Well it sure seems like it."

Caesar, Huey and Jazmine arrived about two hours before the soccer game. Despite Caesar's typical jesting, Huey noticed something about the way Caesar carried himself lately. The characteristically energetic Michael Caesar was replaced with a slightly destitute Caesar. Though nobody noticed it, Huey felt as though Caesar seemed a little milder since junior year. For what could be construed as un-Caesarish, Huey noticed his best friend toned down his jest, his optimism, his energy, and just about any characteristic that made Caesar…well, Caesar.

"Caesar, is there something that's bothering you?" Huey asked.

Caesar gave an imperceptible flinch, yet with Huey's trained eye he easily caught Caesar's body expressions. Huey saw as Caesar turned his head slowly towards him, a strange expression etched onto his facial features.

"Why do you say that?" Caesar kept his voice just barely above a whisper.

Huey shrugged, his eyes boring deep into Caesar's wine-colored eyes.

"Because I've noticed that you haven't been acting like _you_ lately."

"Huey, I don't think it's any of your problem. Stay out of my business." Caesar replied sharply. This caught Huey off guard, as he was surprised that of all people, _Caesar_ would suddenly harbor a hostility he never thought existed in Caesar's fibers.

"Caesar, look at yourself. I've never seen you this hostile in my seven years of knowing you."

"Look, _Freeman_. Nothing's wrong, okay? Just drop it."

And with that, Caesar effectively ended the conversation by casually walking onto the soccer field, where his team was warming up prior to the soccer game against Ed Wuncler High School.

"What could be his problem?" Huey asked to nobody in particular. Jazmine chimed in as they walked up the bleachers to their seat.

"I don't know. I just thought Caesar was just having another episode of volatility." Jazmine replied.

"Wait…this wasn't the first time he was like this?" Huey's worried eyes met Jazmine's.

"Well…yeah. He was like this for most of the fall semester of junior year."

Huey took his seat and faced forward as Jazmine took the seat next to his. Jazmine noticed Huey's face as he contemplated on Caesar's anomalous behavior.

"_Why would Caesar decide to become hostile all of a sudden?"_

Huey contemplated for most of the game as students from his high school filled the stands surrounding him. But he couldn't tear his eyes from Caesar as he noticed his performance wasn't his usual phenomenal soccer star performance that Caesar would exhibit each soccer game. Caesar seemed to play as if he had no heart in the game. At one point, the head coach of the soccer team yelled at Caesar as if he was disappointed in his star player.

"CAESAR! What the hell are you doing! Stop fucking up or I will take you out of this game!"

Huey shook his head as Caesar let the soccer ball roll past him just as he was in perfect position to launch the ball into the goal. Instead, Caesar seemed so disoriented, so distracted that instead of kicking the ball into the goal, he booted it out of bounds. The crowd was not pleased by this and resorted to jeering Caesar's inept performance.

"Caesar…Caesar…Caesar… YOU SUCK!"

Huey looked around him as he incredulously witnessed the crowd jeering their own star soccer player. Huey once again shook his head, disgusted not only by Caesar's deplorable performance, but how people can quickly turn their back on their own idols once they make one single mistake…

But that wouldn't be the only mistake Caesar would make tonight.

"Caesar, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING!"

But as his coach spilled vitriol all over his disgraced star player, Caesar ran downfield as he tried to regain possession from the ball. He finally raced over to the opposite goal, and when an opposing player shot the soccer ball right at Caesar's goalie, he inadvertently deflected the ball slightly. The ball abruptly changed direction, and by the time the goalie realized this, the ball was already past the goalpost.

Caesar scored…an _own goal_.

This gave Ed Wuncler High a commanding lead in the soccer game. The crowd jeered Caesar as he hung his head, taking in the cacophonous boos he earned.

"CAESAR! GET THE HELL OFF THE FIELD!" His coach roared at him. Caesar looked up as he saw the crowd pelting debris onto the field. He saw his coach, whose face was fuming red with anger and discontent. "YOU'RE GOING TO COST US THE GAME!"

In a game where this meant going to the playoffs or going back home, Caesar refused to shine in the most critical of moments. As Caesar walked over to the bench, his coach substituted him for a second-string player.

Jazmine sat with her hands covering her eyes. She could not bear to look at the bloodbath being handed to Caesar and his team. Huey sat there with a scowl on his face as the crowd continued to condemn Caesar. He noticed an eccentric fan break through the barrier separating the bleachers from the field and run up towards Caesar only to pour the contents of his Gatorade down Caesar's head. Huey face palmed himself as he disapprovingly shook his head.

Minutes later, the head coach casually walked up to the dripping, pathetic Michael Caesar.

"Go hit the showers. You're done."

Huey narrowed his eyes as he witnessed Caesar and his coach exchanged words for a few minutes. The coach had a murderous expression etched into his eyes. Caesar just sat there, hanging his head as word after vitriolic word crashed down on him. Finally, after the coach shouted four words into Caesar's ear, Huey saw Caesar put his face into his hands. For the rest of the game, Caesar just sat there, unmoving. It seemed as if whatever the coach told him robbed Caesar of his dignity.

To make matters worse, the second-string player who replaced Caesar scored three goals over the course of the game. This added insult to injury as the game ended. Caesar was the last soccer player to walk off the field. Although Woodcrest High escaped the game by a score of three goals to two, the damage had already been inflicted on Caesar. As Huey and Jazmine met up with him, Huey noticed Caesar's downtrodden expression etched all over his face. Caesar tried to hide the melancholy radiating through his body as he hung his head.

"What happened, Caesar?" Jazmine inquired.

Caesar just stood there, disgraced by the ramifications rendered by his coach.

"Caesar, what did the coach tell you?" Huey tried. Immediately Caesar looked up, unable to hide the somber expression that inhabited his facial features.

"The…the coach…" Caesar trailed off. He caught himself going off track and tried to find his words. "The coach told me I'm not captain anymore."

Caesar's shoulders shook as he placed his face in his hands. Jazmine and Huey walked up to Caesar and tried to console him.

"C'mon. It's just a game. Let's get you home." Huey patted the back of Caesar.

As the trio walked over to Huey's car, Huey contemplated on his best friend's behavior…he knew Caesar wasn't weeping about being relieved as team captain. There was an ulterior problem that caused Caesar to perform so terribly. Being fired as captain was merely the straw that broke the camel's back. There had to be more to Caesar's behavior.

"I don't want to go home." Caesar softly said from the backseat. Huey and Jazmine turned around from their seats to see the somber Caesar as he hung his head.

"Why?" Jazmine asked. Huey narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized Caesar.

"I JUST DON'T, OKAY!" Caesar yelled from the backseat, his head whipping up to shoot Jazmine an arctic stare that could form ice in her veins. Jazmine nearly hit her head against the roof of the car as Caesar berated her. "Just…I don't know. I don't give a rat's ass where you take me at this point."

"Hey, man. Calm down. I'll take you to my house, is that okay?" Huey tried to assuage the volatile Michael Caesar.

"Fine." Caesar fell back into his seat, exasperated, jaded and defeated.

Caesar sat on the couch as Huey and Jazmine prepared dinner in the kitchen of the Freeman residence. Granddad had already gone to bed hours ago, and Riley was out of the house. Caesar stared blankly at the television, which wasn't turned on.

Huey stared at the transfixed Michael Caesar from the kitchen as he chopped lettuce into a salad. Jazmine removed the pasta she was preparing from the oven and placed it on the countertop. Huey gestured towards Jazmine and snapped his head towards Caesar to get Jazmine to observe him. Jazmine stared at Caesar for a few seconds, and stared back at Huey.

"There's something wrong with him." Huey kept his voice inaudible for those out of the range of his low voice.

"Well, he was just fired as team captain, Huey."

"No, it's not that. Did you realize how Caesar has been easily irritable since Junior year? Do you see how his behavior has dramatically changed for the past year? It's not just about being relieved of his job as captain. There's something that's eating him from the inside, Jazmine."

Jazmine placed her hand on her chin, contemplating about Huey's observations. As she did that, Caesar walked towards the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards and drawers as if looking for something.

"You guys have any vodka?" Caesar asked, his voice hoarse.

"Caesar, you can't get rid of your problems by drowning them with alcohol."

"SHUT UP!" Caesar snapped, making Huey stitch his eyebrows into a scowl.

After a few minutes of rummaging through the kitchen of the Freeman residence, Caesar finally got a hold of Granddad's stash of alcohol. Caesar promptly wrapped his hands around a 40-ounce bottle of Grey Goose and walked back out towards the dinner table, where Jazmine was setting up the table with plates and eating utensils. Huey sat there, scrutinizing as Caesar brought his bottle of liquid salvation to the dinner table.

"Caesar, I'm warning you. This is an irrational way to get rid of your problems."

"You don't know anything about my problems." Caesar muttered darkly as he slammed the Grey Goose onto the table, making the plates jump an inch off the table.

Huey raised an eyebrow and Caesar pulled his chair out and violently sat himself down.

"That's what I would like to know. There's something that is causing your afflictions. Caesar, what's wrong?"

"I already told you, I don't want to talk about it." Caesar wrested the pasta from Jazmine's hands and dug into the food as he placed it onto his plate with unnecessary force, which caused particles to fall to the ground.

"Caesar, I've noticed that you're not like your usual self lately."

"Yeah, and how is my 'usual self' like?" Caesar asked with a mocking tone.

"Well, for one, the Caesar I know wouldn't drink vodka during a dinner. Two, the Caesar I know wouldn't be as volatile as you are right now. And three, he would always have a joke ready if something went awry."

Caesar was in the process of pouring his vodka into a large glass until Huey finished his sentence. Finally, when the words registered into his head, Caesar contorted his face into a menacing expression. He abruptly stopped pouring himself vodka and picked up his glass, inspecting it in the light. Then, he turned his eyes towards Huey and threw the glass at him with enough brute force to render someone comatose and send them to the emergency room.

"What the _hell_, man!" Huey ducked just in the nick of time as the glass flew past his face. It subsequently crashed into the floor with a cacophonous thunderclap as shards of millions of pieces of glass and a rain of alcohol coated the floor.

"You want to know what my life is like?" Caesar calmly asked, acting so casual as if nothing had happened, "My life is like that glass right there. It's in a million pieces!"

"Why is that?" Huey inquired, but Caesar only shot him a murderous glance before raising the forty ounces of salvation to his mouth and promptly drank straight out of the Grey Goose bottle. He easily chugged half of the bottle down his throat before setting the bottle down gently.

"Easy now. You don't want to get intoxicated." Jazmine suggested softly, anticipating the volatile Caesar to lash out again.

Caesar scoffed at Jazmine's suggestion. "You don't know _shit_ about what I want."

"Caesar, we're trying to help you out. If you can't tell us what your problems are, then you might as well just take your pathetic vodka-drinking ass somewhere else." Huey snapped, growing impatient at Caesar's blasphemous attitude.

Caesar only sat there, staring at Huey through weary eyes. He opened his mouth to retort, to which Jazmine shut her eyes in anticipation of verbal artillery.

"You think you can help me? What…you think your logic-spewing mouth can give me salvation? Trust me my friend…whatever words you have in your mind can't possibly erase my problems any better than this goddamned bottle of vodka can." Caesar retorted coldly, narrowing his eyes until they were slits. He then raised the bottle of Grey Goose at Huey. "Cheers, my friend. To salvation." And with that, he drank the remaining contents of the vodka bottle and passed out. Caesar and the bottle of vodka were sent crashing to the floor as both of them landed in a million shattered pieces.

Sarah Dubois sat up in her bed late that night, contemplating about the incident where Jazmine stared through the window with somber, crying eyes the night when she kissed her suitor. The lights from an approaching cab temporarily illuminated the dark room, revealing the man sleeping soundly beside her. The Senator from New York was wandering deeper into his own personal world of dreams, as if he couldn't sense the turmoil raging inside Sarah's heart.

Images of her daughter continued to invade her mind as she tried to close her eyes.

"_Why mom? Why would you do this to me?" Jazmine stared up at her with tears surging down her cheek and onto the pavement._

"_Jazmine, I'm sorry."_

"_Mom! WHY! I thought you loved me!"_

"_I do, honey, it's just…" Sarah's words trailed off as Jazmine's weeping intensified. It was insufferable to her to watch her own flesh and blood anguish over her own doings._

"_I don't ever want to see you again." Jazmine ran into the cold night, her destination unknown._

"_Jazmine, please! Come back!"_

Sarah shut her eyes as she lay back on her side of the bed. She tried to rid herself of the tumultuous images that relentlessly flooded her eyes as she tried to return to sleep by her suitor.

"Still restless?" Her suitor softly spoke as Sarah laid her head against the soft pillow.

"Yeah." Sarah responded. She felt the comforting embrace of her suitor wrap around her as he placed his arm around her waist. She tried to shut her eyes as the sounds of the City of New York flooded her ears. Finally, after a restless half hour, she finally descended into a turbulent dream.

"Tom, you can't go to Woodcrest anymore. Do not leave me here."

"I know, but I still have a daughter there. I can't just leave her, she needs me."

Thomas Dubois looked out of the window from a tall skyscraper in Philadelphia. He saw a full moon rise above the majestic, gleaming skyline of the City of Brotherly love. A woman slowly, yet gracefully walked up to Tom and joined in him beside the window. Both were wearing their standard five hundred dollar suits. As they stood in the only room whose lights were on in the skyscraper they were inside, Tom shut his eyes and let out a prolonged exhale from his mouth as he tried to give himself redemption.

"_This isn't right. This can't be right."_

"Tom, listen to me."

The African-American lawyer tore his gaze from the glowing skyline to stare into the woman's eyes. She fell about four inches shorter than Tom. Her white skin was gleaming in the moon's shining rays as her hazel eyes met with Tom's wine-colored ones.

"We have already raised a family here in Philadelphia. I am giving you an ultimatum. Either you choose your family in Woodcrest, or you stay here and help me raise our children here in Philadelphia."

"Why does it have to be an ultimatum? Why can't I have both?"

"Because, Tom!" The woman shook her head as she emanated a mocking laugh, "You have to understand that secret families never stay secret! You have to remember that _where there's smoke, there's fire_. Do you understand me?"

Tom silently yet slowly nodded his head as a somber expression descended upon his disposition.

"So I am giving you one choice. Either you stay with your family in Woodcrest or you stay here. What is your choice?"

Tom hung his head, staring at his feet. He already made his decision years ago, but he always questioned himself. Is this right? Is this what I want? _Is this what Jazmine would want?_

"Tom?"

Tom whipped his head up again, his eyes locking gazes with hers.

"I don't have a family in Woodcrest. I've already decided. I love you. That's all that matters. I will never leave you. My top priority is to help you raise our children here in Philadelphia. Not one single word in the English language can possibly tell you how much our family here means to me...how much _you_ mean to me."

"Oh, Tom."

"Hillary, you don't need to give me an ultimatum. I've already decided."

Tom and Hillary slowly brought themselves closer to each other's bodies. As they brought their heads closer to a blasphemous, kiss of infidelity, the moon ceased shining on the skyline of the city. Clouds obscured the moon as Tom and Hillary shared a passionate, sensual kiss. Somewhere in Tom's mind, his conscience was literally screaming at him for this. But elsewhere in his mind, his brain told him he had no future in Woodcrest.

"Tom, I want you to divorce Sarah next summer."

"Baby, please."

"I mean it Tom. I think its time you also told your other daughter…what the hell was her name again? Jackie?"

"Jazmine."

"Whatever. Look, Tom. All I'm trying to tell you is since you've made your decision, you have to devote your full time and energy to the one true family you love. You have to devote it to us."

Tom nodded as he slowly turned his gaze back to the breathtaking view of Philadelphia. He stared at the sky above it, as he brought his gaze to the clouds obscuring the moon. It seemed on this specific night, the moon refused to give it's majestic beauty away to a couple where infidelity was the only thing common between them.

"Annnddd, this is your wakeup call on 95.5 WFRK The Freak! We play the shittiest music of the 80's, 90's, and Today! We ain't lyin! Now get yo asses up and march yourselves to school, work, or that intersection where you beg money from!"

Jazmine Dubois woke up on an early Wednesday morning. The first thing she did was slam her hand on the snooze button of the radio as she struggled out of her bed covers. She clumsily fell out of bed as her legs tangled into the bed sheets, depriving her of the stability required for such a simple task such as standing up.

"Oof!"

Finally, after a few minutes of wrestling with her blanket, she firmly placed her two feet on the ground, and stood up. As she walked over to the window, she tripped over her own shoes, which she somehow did not notice. Once again, the graceless Jazmine Dubois was on the ground again, rubbing her head as she tried to get the cobwebs of sleep out of her head.

Cindy McPhearson stood at the doorframe, witnessing her best friend fumble around in her own room. She let out a small giggle as Jazmine struggled to get get back on her own two feet.

"You know, you're really graceful in the morning."

"Shut up."

Cindy walked over to the struggling Jazmine and offered her hand to help her up.

"Okay, no more fooling around. I need to carpool with you since my car broke down." Cindy said, motioning to her own car parked in the Dubois' driveway.

"Alright, fine. But you're gonna have to make me breakfast first."

"What do you want? Bacon and eggs?"

"Sure, why not?"

Jazmine followed Cindy out of her room. The first thing Jazmine noticed was the stairway leading back up to the attic, which held old relics of the Dubois family. She eyed it with curiosity and told Cindy she will meet her downstairs. She then went up the stairway and into the attic.

Luckily, there was a small window that had a view of the neighborhood from the attic. It was the only source of light as the sun's golden rays poked through, giving an ample amount of illumination to shuffle around in the attic.

Jazmine found an old radio, which still seemed to work. She plugged it into an outlet and hit the power button, which resulted in the radio blaring sounds as it roared to life.

"You're listening to the Wake Up Call on 95.5 FM WFRK THE FREAK! Caller number nine, what's your name?"

Jazmine turned her attention to a small box in the corner as upbeat music from the radio emanated with screams of caller number nine in jubilation as the caller apparently won a prize from the eccentric radio station. Jazmine grabbed the box and shuffled through it. Her heart stopped beating as an icy feeling washed over her. The box contained the wedding photos of Tom and Sarah Dubois.

As Jazmine shuffled through the wedding photos, her vision became obscured as feelings of longing washed over her. Tears began to surge down her cheeks as the radio started to play a song that was coincidentally relative to Jazmine's precarious situation.

_Where'd you go?  
I miss you so,  
Seems like it's been forever.  
That you've been gone._

Jazmine continued to shuffle through the forgotten photos, and she came across a card with a noticeably younger Tom and Sarah smiling as they cut the wedding cake. It had a cursive-style lettering on the side of Tom and Sarah as it read one single word:

"Faith."

Jazmine flipped the card around, which had an inscription about the wedding day for her two parents.

"_On this hallowed day, you have found the other half in your life. Faith triumphs over infidelity. Faith is the inner light that guides your way through the darkness of this world. Faith is what keeps the love between you strong and unconquerable. Keep to the philosophy of faith and your love will never wither away. Happy wedding day."_

Moisture began to overflow in her eyes as more tear drops surged to the floor. A single teardrop landed on the wedding card.

_You know the place where you used to live,  
Used to barbecue up burgers and ribs,  
Used to have a little party every Halloween with candy by the pile  
But now, you only stop every once in a while _

Jazmine clutched to wedding card to her chest, embracing it as she tried to forget the memories of witnessing her mother's act of infidelity. She wished her mother wasn't cheating. She wished her father didn't disappear from her life. _She wished her parents were still here._

Jazmine wept in her loneliness as the song wound down. She kept the wedding card close to her heart.

_Where'd you go?  
I miss you so  
Seems like it's been forever  
That you've been gone.  
Please come back home._

Jazmine stood up, leaving the wedding card on the box. She wiped the tears that stained her face with her sleeve as she walked through the exit of the attic.

_Please come back home._

_

* * *

_Hope you guys had a good thanksgiving, and I also hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. So I bet you're wondering, why the hell would Huey play baseball? Trust me, this is not a filler. Huey's days as a baseball player will have a profound effects on his relationships...also, remember the episode of The Boondocks called "The Red Ball"? Huey is forced to pitch for the kickball team in that episode, and I kind of based it off that. I bet you're also wondering why Caesar would drink alcohol...well, honestly, to me, he seems to be the kind of person with a feeble personality who succumbs to vices if he encounters a problem...well, when he's a teenager that is. But that's only my humble opinion.

In response to iAnneart01's question for chapter five, well, technically Riley did bring Huey and Jazmine together by proxy. Since Riley was unnerving Huey with his gang relations, it was enough to elicit emotions from the typically emotionless Huey Freeman. Since Huey has opened up as a result of Riley's actions, Jazmine is able to comfort Huey at the end of that chapter. But then again, you're right because Huey and Jazmine could get into a relationship on their own accord. Hope this helps!

If you're wondering what song was playing on the radio when Jazmine was shuffling through the wedding photos, it's called "Where'd you go?" by Fort Minor. I thought it was a good song selection since it deals with the inevitable end of long-distance relationships, which Jazmine shares with her parents.

I'd like to thank KODfreak, MissG2020, DaveTheWordsmith, and iAnneart01 for your reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own either _The Boondocks_ nor "_Where'd you go?" The Boondocks _is owned by Aaron McGruder, The Universal Press Syndicate, and Sony Pictures Television. _Where'd you go? _was written by Fort Minor. I don't own any of the real-life products referenced in this chapter, including the Grey Goose Vodka.


	8. Yuletide Gatherings

Yuletide Gatherings

"_In other news today, wait…we just received breaking news that the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base was just attacked…"_

"_The Pentagon has released reports of a deadly missile attack on an air force base in North Carolina just thirty minutes ago…"_

"_President Sandra Palein paid her solemn respects to the thousands of air force personnel who died today on a massive attack in a North Carolina air force base…"_

"_Many political analysts have made their predictions that martial law is absolutely needed…if not imminent…"_

It was a typical April afternoon up until this point in time. The lives of millions of oblivious Americans continued on their daily routine as if nothing had happened. From the perspective of an archetypical Average Joe, the world continued to turn. However, once the aforementioned Average Joe turned the television on, they would be bombarded with news reports about the savage attack on an Air Force base in North Carolina. The minds of millions of citizens immediately pointed in the same direction: terrorism. However, to the thirty-nine year old Huey Freeman, he resumed his tour at Woodcrest High School, oblivious to the news reports about the largest attack on American soil since September 11, 2001. The lives of the countless millions of citizens living across the nation would immediately change on this fateful April day…especially Huey Freeman's.

The Principal had just initiated his tour around Huey's old alumni at the time of the attack. Huey was secluded from the rest of the world, uninformed of the predicaments unfolding right beneath his nose.

"And here, you see that the gymnasium has completely renovated. The renovations didn't seem to change much of anything, but that was because we decided to conserve the look and feel of the gym. This is where you'll be delivering your speech –"

Huey's thoughts began to trail off…it brought an odd feeling to your senses. Walking the very same halls that you haven't walked in two decades ago brought a chilling feeling down his spine. Huey couldn't help but realize that the last time he set foot in his old high school, he shared these halls with Cindy, Riley, Caesar, Hiro, and of course, Jazmine.

It was something in the air…he could feel as if his friends were standing right behind him. He sensed their presence, and he just wanted to turn around and meet face-to-face with the people he spent eight of his innocent adolescent years with. Yet every time he would do such a thing, he was met with an eerily empty hallway.

"Damn. I could have sworn I saw _Jazmine_ standing right there. I'm become delusional. That's all it is. That's the only logical explanation."

Huey couldn't help it. He became distempered at the cruel jokes his mind was playing on him. He knew that the ghosts of his memories would haunt him if he ever set foot in Woodcrest again.

"HUEY!"

Huey's head whipped up as he saw Buckner racing towards him at the end of the hallway. He squinted his eyes to see through the blinding sunlight filtering through the windows in the hallway to see several dark-suited men following Buckner behind him. The principal whipped around to follow Huey's gaze, and positioned himself in front of Huey to block Buckner and his entourage from reaching him.

"Who the hell are you guys?"

Apparently, the principal was not in any mood to have his all-important tour get interrupted by a bunch of official, we-mean-business looking people.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Principal. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Buckner Ogden, Mayor of Chicago. But you could just call me Buckner…Mayor Ogden was my father's name. And you must be Henry Burns, Principal of Woodcrest High School! Nice to meet you."

Huey mentally facepalmed himself…it just had to be in Buckner's moral fiber to introduce himself as Mayor of Chicago at any time just to get his point across…whatever that "point" may be.

"Um…hi. Now what the hell do you guys want?" The Principal immediately got down to business. Apparently, he had no time for such tomfoolery with Buckner.

"We need to speak with Huey Freeman, Mayor of Baltimore just for two minutes. It would be preferable to us if you can go…someplace else."

"I'm sorry, but this is my school, and you will play by my rules. Got it? That means I stay wherever the hell I want to stay and that means I'm staying here with Mr. Freeman."

"Sir, we are about to disclose highly classified and confidential information. If you do not leave the premises, we will be forced to relocate you ourselves."

Huey's eyes locked gazes with one of the agents standing behind Buckner. Huey lifted his left eyebrow as the agent threatened his former high school principal.

The principal drew a sharp breath as if trying to calm his senses down. Logic dictated that he would leave the immediate vicinity immediately, or else face stiff retaliation. Finally, after a few moments of fuming at the agent, Henry Burns decided to go with his logic and leave Huey with Buckner and his agents.

Finally, when Henry Burns was out of earshot, Buckner grabbed Huey and shoved him into the nearest empty classroom. He looked around the all-too-familiar classroom…it was senior year when he took an advanced placement English class. He remembered when he shared a kiss with Jazmine when Mrs. Houghton decided to hang mistletoe around the classroom during week before winter vacation. The class obviously got a kick out of this one, being the adolescents that they were. It always was innocence that dictated the lives of many adolescents out there. And innocence was what Huey lost two decades ago. Yet he could still see them kissing, as if he was right here witnessing their outward assertion of their declaration for their love for each other.

"Huey? Huey? LISTEN TO ME HUEY!"

Immediately, the ghosts of Huey's past faded away as Buckner broke through Huey's consciousness. His eyes darted up to meet Buckner and his entourage of agents behind him. Each of the members of Buckner's entourage wore black suits, black dress pants, black ties, a white dress shirt, and pitch-black sunglasses. Huey felt as though he was having an encounter with the Men in Black.

"What's going on?" Huey asked, his voice giving away that he seemed lost and disoriented.

"Huey, we need you to listen and we need you to understand. So listen closely and intently." Buckner said in an uncharacteristically dark, un-Buckner-like voice.

"I'm listening." Huey sat down in the nearest chair, folding his hands neatly in his lap as Buckner's agents surrounded him.

"The United States of America…is under attack."

"WHAT!"

"Huey, listen! Don't interrupt!"

Huey sat back down in his chair, which fell over as he literally jumped two feet into the air at this shocking revelation.

"We've just been given information that the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina was attacked today. It happened just an hour ago."

"Who did this? Why have they done this?"

Before Huey could stop himself, he was already asking Buckner a thousand questions per minute. It seemed so uncharacteristic of him, being that he was always the one who had answers to the questions.

"The news reports are beginning to blame terrorists for the attack. Thousands of lives have been lost, and there were no survivors. We've been told that the entire Fourth Fighter Wing of the Air Combat Command was eradicated in this massive attack. Huey…this is the biggest coordinated attack on American soil since 2001…that was about twenty-seven years ago. And the Pentagon had already released reports that this was an attack coordinated by various terrorist organizations in the Middle East, specifically of Muslim origin."

"Who were the real people behind this?" Huey questioned. But it seemed like an obvious answer. Whenever something goes awry, use Terrorism as the scapegoat…but that couldn't be the case. Huey knew it couldn't possibly be a terrorist organization…especially not at this time.

Buckner opened his mouth to retort, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He shut his eyes and gestured to one of his agents as if to delegate the responsibility of disclosing this information to Huey.

"It was the _United States Army._"

At first, Huey thought his ears heard wrong. He had to be delusional. His mind was playing tricks on him all day! His mind was probably distorting information as he received it.

"Did…did you just say that the _Army_ attacked the _Air Force_?"

"Yes, I did."

"Why the hell would they attack their own country?"

"Well that's the thing," Buckner interjected as he began to pace back and forth in the classroom, "Did you hear that President Sandra Palein just declared Martial Law about forty-five minutes ago?"

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Huey stood up, causing his chair to fall over again. He easily towered above everybody in the room.

"Isn't it obvious?" Buckner chortled, as if this whole predicament had been a comedy the whole entire situation, "Sandra Palein is placing the blame on Islamic terrorists who have radical tendencies in the Middle East. However, in reality, she staged the attack on Seymour Johnson Air Force Base to make it _look as if_ we were attacked by terrorists."

Huey nodded as he followed Buckner's logic. Buckner paused, to which Huey made a circular hand gesture to keep Buckner going.

"Sandra Palein now has absolute control over all the armed forces in the United States as Commander-in-Chief. So today, she sent an entire division of the army to eradicate an entire unit of the Air Force. Isn't it obvious, Huey?"

Huey shook his head as he tried to connect the proverbial dots in his logical thinking.

Buckner sighed, "Sandra Palein is trying to scare the general public into thinking that terrorists are out to get us. Now that she has fulfilled that, she now has legitimacy to declare Martial Law. Do you know why she would do this, Huey?"

Huey thought for a few seconds. Immediately, it seemed so clear now.

"Sandra Palein has always blamed our problems on the radical Muslims in the Middle East. It's obvious that she is a religious bigot. So now that she has legitimacy to declare Martial Law, she is granted by the Constitution to suspend Habeas Corpus, which gives her full authority to arrest and detain anybody she pleases. She's trying to eradicate Muslims in the United States…" Huey replied solemnly.

Buckner flicked his fingers as Huey's impeccable thought processes were spot on. Yet Huey was still incredulous at his own thesis.

"But this is only a conspiracy theory! We don't know for sure if it really was Sandra Palein or the Terrorists behind this coordinated attack! And plus, why would the President of the United States herself suspend the human rights granted to us by our own Founding Fathers? This _is_ just a _conspiracy theory._" Huey placed emphasis on conspiracy theory, not believing that the President, the one guardian of human rights ensured by our Constitution, would even think of immediately revoking those mandated rights.

"This is NOT a conspiracy theory, Huey! Look, these agents that I have with me are from the Central Intelligence Agency as well as the Department of Defense…some of them have flown in from the Pentagon themselves! I have been communicating with these agents for several years, and they've been telling me that this attack will happen on this very _exact date_! They even know the motives of Palein! They've known this for _several years_! Don't you get it? Palein is going to turn the Presidency into a Dictatorship…and this Democracy into a Police State!"

Huey slumped into his chair, shocked at the prospect of the United States crumbling before his very eyes. He just needed proof that these agents knew what they were talking about.

"How are you so sure these agents are from the CIA and the Pentagon?"

Immediately, every agent in the room reached into their suits and withdrew their badges. They planted their outstretched arms in front of Huey to display their identification as members of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense.

"Oh." Huey simply retorted.

"You believe me now?" Buckner asked with growing impatience. He continued pacing around in the classroom.

"Yes, I believe you." Huey said with genuine acceptance. "How long have you known?"

"Since Sandra Palein took office two years ago." Another agent quipped. "She's been planning this her whole life…and she's finally realizing her dreams. Before long, the human rights of every citizen in the United States will be suppressed, oppression will run amok, and Sandra Palein will run the United States with an iron fist."

"Now I have one question." Huey asked. Everybody in the room immediately stared at him with a harsh, yet receptive look. "Why, out of all people, would you tell me this information? I mean I'm pretty sure I am not the person you guys should be telling this to. I am just a mayor!"

Everybody seemed to collectively look at their shoes at the same time, as if on cue. Buckner stared at all the agents before locking gazes with Huey.

"Huey…after you get elected as Senator…we want you to run for President two years from now and try to defeat Palein."

"WHAT! Why me? I'm only thirty-nine years old!"

"And you'll be forty-one years by then." Buckner added, "By then, you'll have two years of experience."

"Wow, you sure know your math." Huey sardonically remarked.

"Huey," another agent chimed in, "We've all been watching you. We know more about you than you know about yourself. We _know_ that you're the perfect man for the job. You have all the characteristics of a great leader. It wouldn't come as a surprise if someday you would be the one leading the Revolution."

Huey issued a blank gaze at Buckner, who looked as if he was seriously considering the prospect of Huey leading a revolution against this devilish dictator. Huey had always been talking about revolutions ever since he was ten years old. Finally he found a cause to fight for…and to die for. He had to step up to the occasion. Twenty-nine years after asserting to his best friend, Caesar, about leading revolutions have passed…and now he has the chance as the United States found itself in a precarious situation.

A strange knot formed in Huey's stomach…Buckner and his agents knew too much about him.

"Who _are you_?" Huey asked.

Buckner contorted his facial expression, digging into his vocabulary to choose the right words. He couldn't give too much information about himself away.

"I am the ghost of Christmas Past." Buckner replied.

A heavy sensation descended upon Huey as Buckner reached into his suit to pull out something concealed on his person.

Huey's heart turned to stone as he saw a golden chain glint in Buckner's hands. At the end of the chain was a small heart…a locket of some sort. Huey hasn't seen this specific locket in what seemed like an eternity ago, yet the image of the locket's original owner was still fresh in his mind.

It was the nights when Huey and Jazmine sat on the hill and attempted to count the countless stars in the night sky. The locket always glinted in the moonlight, as if it contained the very essence of their souls within its tiny space.

"You will believe us when we tell you that we know more about you than you know about yourself."

Huey's eyes widened as Buckner slowly extended the hand bearing the locket towards him. Without even thinking, with no inhibitions or second thoughts, Huey slowly and involuntarily reached toward the locket.

Huey let the heart shaped locket fall into the palm of his hand. Poignant and vivid memories flashed in front of his eyes upon feeling the gold locket fall into his hands. Immediately, his fingers ran across the sides of the locket and unlatched it to reveal its contents.

A small photo nestled inside one of the panes of the locket. Huey could feel a cold sensation infiltrate into his chest as his auburn eyes locked on the photograph. He remembered the occasion as if it were yesterday.

It was the last Christmas that Huey would spend with her. The photo contained seventeen-year-old Huey with Jazmine wrapping her arms around him and kissing him on the cheek. At the top of the photo was mistletoe. He could still see the light snowflakes falling all around them as Jazmine's cheeks were colored red, possibly the result of the cold weather or possibly because she was emphatically displaying her emotions for him.

"Where…where did you find this?" Huey asked as emotions of longing washed upon him.

Buckner only gave a slight shrug. Huey stared back at his locket, no longer in the mood of trying to wrench information out of Buckner.

Before Huey could stop himself, he began to describe his longing for Jazmine to nobody in particular.

"I haven't seen her in over twenty years. Not a day goes by without me having to wonder how she's doing, where she is, and how she's getting along without me by her side. I know I haven't been well without her by mine…" Huey began to drift off.

"Jazmine Dubois is –" But before Buckner could give Huey any more information on Jazmine, Huey interrupted him without even thinking about what Buckner was about to say.

"Jazmine was the only person who kept me emotionally and even _physically_ stable for the eight years after my parents died. She literally filled the enormous void that my mother and my father left behind when they were taken away from me…"

Huey once again trailed off. Buckner nodded his head as if he already knew this.

"Amidst all the chaos that ruled my life, she was my only constant. I couldn't forgive myself for neglecting her caring personality. And when she left, I felt as if half of me vanished into thin air."

"And this is why you never loved again." Buckner deduced.

Huey only gave a subtle nod.

"We need to find Jazmine. I need to go to California soon." Huey suggested.

"No. We can't do that. You need to focus on becoming a Senator so you could become a voice of reason against President Palein."

Huey stared at Buckner with a blank expression.

"Huey, I know the passion is still alive and well inside you for Jazmine. But you need to take into consideration that traversing across the United States will be precarious now that Martial Law is enforced."

"I don't care. I want to see her before I run for President."

Huey didn't want to think that this would be the last time he would see Jazmine.

He could feel himself travel back in time. Before he could stop it, his mind transported him back to that very same Christmas, the picture so clear and so vivid, it was as if he relived every moment of it.

* * *

_December 25th, 2006_

"Do you see what I see?"

Huey and Jazmine sat on the doorstep of the Dubois residence, staring up at the silent night's sky. The sky seemed so clear, the stars more numerous than usual, and the moon was shining down upon the couple. Jazmine's skin glinted in the moonlight as the rays of the celestial object struck her.

Huey followed Jazmine's gaze and immediately saw what she was staring at.

"It's a star, Huey. It's dancing in the night sky…and it has a tail as big as a kite."

Jazmine placed her head on Huey's shoulder as she stared up at the star.

"Can you believe it? About two thousand years ago, there were three benevolent kings who followed that same star to Baby Jesus to bring him gifts from lands afar. The same star that we are looking at right now."

Jazmine's glowing eyes stared up into Huey's auburn ones as she nestled her head upon the nook of Huey's shoulder. Though by the look of Huey's eyes, he didn't seem to approve of anything Jazmine was saying.

"That's a load of bull –"

"Huey –"

"Don't 'Huey' me! I've been telling you about the actual history of Christmas for eight years now."

Jazmine shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. Girlfriend or not, Huey was always one to shatter the beliefs he deemed was wrong.

"Look Jazmine. All I'm trying to say is that these supposed 'shepherds' in the bible would not have been outside in the Palestinian winters. It would have been too cold to venture hundreds of miles to give a newborn baby some gifts. Have you ever noticed how the Catholic bible is riddled with inconsistencies?"

Jazmine removed her head from Huey's shoulder and straightened up to stare into Huey's harsh eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"Jazmine, don't you read the bible?"

"Every night, I do!" Jazmine exclaimed as if it was the moral thing to do.

"Well, since you're so well-versed about the bible, don't you find anything peculiar when you read it?"

"No."

Huey sighed, "When I read the bible, the main inconsistency I _always_ come across is whether this supposed 'God' figure is a loving or a menacing omnipotent entity."

Jazmine stared at Huey as if she had no understanding as to what he just said.

"What I mean is, there are verses in the bible where God promises to love his creations no matter what. Then there are other verses where God is an authoritative figure who threatens to smite you or send you to hell if you don't do what he says. Don't you get it Jazmine? _What exactly _is God? Is he loving or is he terrorizing?"

"Um…"

"Exactly."

"Huey, you're such a scrooge."

"Merry Christmas to you too."

There were times when Jazmine and Huey would seem to have nothing in common with each other. Their views on Christmas and Religion were only a _fraction_ of their disputed perspectives.

Often times, Huey was only trying to get Jazmine to assume a worldlier outlook on taboo topics such as these. Jazmine took it the other way. She interpreted Huey's castigating as a gesture of neglect. Huey never noticed this, but whenever he would shatter her beliefs, Jazmine would be robbed of her innocence and dignity. Huey was trying to help her, albeit in an unnecessarily rude way, but he tried to open her perspectives either way. Jazmine always misinterpreted it as Huey's way of saying she was stupid, dumb and ignorant.

"Aye. Aye…AYE!" Riley shouted through one of the windows in the Dubois residence.

Jazmine and Huey simultaneously turned to Riley.

"Damn, you two lovebirds done yet? Y'all betta hurry up, cuz we all are waiting on you. And I'm sick and tired of hungerin' cause of you two."

"Riley, could you leave us alone for a minute? Please?"

"Oooh, why you gotta need privacy? Ya know, if you two get married someday, yo kids are gonna have the nappiest hair and the biggest afros I've eva seen."

Jazmine was taken aback at Riley's observation.

"My hair's not nappy. I'm just having a bad hair day."

"Damn, Jazzy. You been having 'bad hair days' since we known you! Face it, you DO have nappy hair!"

And with that, Riley slammed the window shut before Huey or Jazmine could fire back at him.

Huey and Jazmine spend an awkward minute before mentioning anything to each other.

"I hate it when you insult me."

"Jazmine, I wasn't insulting you!"

"Then why were you talking down on me like I knew nothing about my own religion?"

"I wasn't talking down on you!"

"Then what was that all about? It seems like all you ever do is cherry pick any aspect of my personality and just…destroy me for that. I don't think…no…I _know_ you don't appreciate me for who I am."

"What the hell are you insinuating?"

"Huey, you're always shooting me down whenever I say something you think is wrong."

"Because you always look at life like it's a bundle of sunshine and rainbows! Life is not like that, Jazmine. I'm trying to make you understand –"

"Understand _what_, Huey? Understand that you look at life like it's doom and gloom all the time! I don't want to think like you do, Huey. I don't. The way you think scares the living shit out of me. I'm trying to make _you_ understand that you can't just go up to people and try to change them. You can't just pick apart people's personalities and discard them like rotten apples!"

"You are one stubborn –"

"Stubborn _what? _Go ahead just say it! I don't give a shit what you think anymore."

"Jazmine…" Huey placed a hand around Jazmine's shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. She only shrugged Huey's hand off of her and immediately stood up.

"I'm going inside. Bye."

"Jazmine –"

But before Huey could speak his peace, Jazmine slammed the door in his face, cutting him off midsentence.

Huey sighed and stared back up into the sky. A few clouds shrouded the bright star that Jazmine was mesmerizing about. A flurry of snowflakes began swirling around Huey as he stood up and silently opened the door to walk inside.

"There they are! Come…sit down. Merry Christmas!"

Tom Dubois welcomed Huey and Jazmine to the table as they took their seats. Huey took the seat to the left of Jazmine, who scowled upon his arrival and scooted his chair away from him. Huey shut his eyes and shook his head as he sensed Jazmine's animosity towards him.

Tom and Sarah were surprisingly home at Woodcrest to host their formerly annual Christmas feast. The Dubois have not hosted their regularly annual feast since three years ago. This year, Tom and Sarah mutually agreed it would be the last Christmas together as a family, so they decided to host one final feast with the Freemans, Caesars, Otomos and McPhearsons.

"Ahem." Tom clanged his spoon against his glass to get everybody's attention. "I'd like to make a toast to everybody. It was God's wish for us to be united under one roof for this Christmas. So I would like to thank God for this wonderful food we are about to partake in –"

"Actually, God is not the –"

Before Huey could get his long oration about God's accountability for the holidays out to the unsuspecting public, Jazmine shot him a death glare. Huey took notice of this and immediately aborted his speech.

"What Huey is trying to say is that he is very sorry for interrupting my daddy." Jazmine quipped, taking the initiative to represent Huey.

"Right...well, um. Cheers! To a merry Christmas and a very happy New Year!"

Everybody raised their glasses of Champagne to clink with everybody else's. Jazmine refused to let Huey's glass meet with hers and instead took every opportunity to clink with everyone's except his. Caesar's glass was empty before he even partook in the ritual, and began hastily refilling his glass with even more champagne. His mother told him to stop drinking too much, but Caesar only waved her warnings aside.

After a few minutes, everybody was taking part in the gluttony and digging into the food like savages. And before they knew it, conversation struck up between the five families.

"So I was telling Hiro that if he wants to remain a bum in life, then he could go ahead and keep his turntables and his DJ stuff. But if he wants to amount to something in his life, I told him to keep his grades up and apply to a good school." Hiro's mother told Granddad.

"I don't know, Mrs. Otomo. The kid has his own aspirations. It makes sense that if my grandchildren found something worth living for in their life, then they go ahead and pursue it. Whether that be a gangsta or a Martin Luther King. It's all up to them. If they fail in life, it sho as hell wasn't my fault. It was their fault to choose their life to begin with!"

"That makes sense, but I just want to see Hiro achieve something."

"So Huey and Jazmine,"

Huey and Jazmine whipped their heads up from their food to meet the gazes of Tom and Sarah.

"All this talk has got me thinking. Where are you two going to go for college?"

"I'm going to Prince George's Community College." Huey simply stated.

"Well, for me I'm going to Johns Hopkins University or UCLA." Jazmine listed off her prospective colleges. "Depends on wherever I get accepted."

"Wow, that's great, Jazmine!" Sarah said with genuine appreciation. Jazmine only scrunched her face in a scowl.

"Yeah…like you would care." Jazmine muttered under her breath.

"Huey, why would you go to a community college? I mean I could look at your qualifications and I could swear you're headed off to Cambridge! For example…" Tom pulled out a thick manila envelope containing Huey's qualifications casually as if everybody carried Huey's records wherever they went. "You have been the President of the Students Working for Equal Rights club for three years, you're the new captain of the Baseball team –"

Upon hearing this, Caesar took another swig of his champagne and refilled his glass.

"You are the president of the Black Student Union, and you are also going to graduate number three in the class!" Tom listed Huey's résumé as if he was an admissions officer at a university.

"Well Tom, I don't have much money to spend like your daughter here. Plus, it's a lot easier to get scholarships at a community college, the student-to-professor ratio is more intimate compared to a university, the tuition is cheaper, and I don't have to stray too far from my supporting family." Huey listed his reasons off.

"Shoot, I wish you would just apply to Harvard and get the hell out my house!" Granddad shouted "you just trying to mooch off me for a few more years!"

Huey rolled his eyes at Granddad in retort.

Across the table, Jazmine noticed Cindy's nearly imperceptible scar gleaming in the light on her face. If it weren't for the bright kitchen lights, Cindy's scar would have been concealed completely.

"Cindy, what's with the scars?"

Cindy seemed to flinch upon hearing these words crash into her eardrum even though Jazmine naturally had a soft voice. Cindy looked up to face Jazmine, and then shifted her gaze to her father and mother. Mr. McPhearson seemed to give her a menacing glance before returning to converse with Granddad and Mrs. McPhearson.

"Nothing! I – I…fell down?" Cindy had no confidence behind these words.

Mr. McPhearson gave no attention to the conversation between Jazmine and Cindy, as if he were trying to cover up some sort of ulterior problem.

"Cindy, those scars don't look like you fell because I know you don't get _that _banged up by one incident of falling. It actually looks like you were beaten with a baseball bat."

Immediately, Mr. McPhearson flinched and abruptly turned his attention and focus towards the young Dubois.

"She fell down, alright? You know how klutzy she is…she probably fell down _several_ times."

Jazmine couldn't help but remain incredulous at Mr. McPhearson's explanations. Something didn't feel right…but then again, she couldn't object because Mr. McPhearson had a menacing tone disguised behind his calm explanations. She sensed the ice behind these words, and would have investigated further if it weren't for his seemingly hostile attitude.

"Okay." Jazmine squeaked.

This ended any conversation about Cindy's mysterious scars, but Jazmine was still highly suspicious about this.

"Marcus! Whaddup my nigga? What it do?"

Huey shook his head as Riley whipped his cell phone out in the middle of dinner. Riley didn't care if he was being rude, as long as he stayed in touch with the outside world.

"Aight, dat's cool my nigga. Tell you what, imma be dere in fifteen minutes. Aight, peace."

Immediately, Riley pocketed his cell phone and grabbed Granddad's attention by throwing his spoon at him. Unorthodox and unnecessary, it impaled the side of Granddad's face and subsequently clanged to the floor. Granddad let out an irritated growl and whipped his head towards his grandson.

"_WHAT?"_

"Dayum Granddad. If you don' calm da fuck down, you gonna get heart attacks."

Granddad mumbled a few irritated comments at Riley and was about to return to his conversation with Mr. and Mrs. McPhearson until Riley grabbed his attention again.

"Granddad, imma bounce. I'm gonna meet up wit Marcus, aight?"

Huey immediately stood up to block Riley's exodus from the living room, denying him his only escape route to meet up with his gang mate.

"You are _not_ going to your gang…especially not by being rude on a Christmas night."

"Nigga, get da fuck out my way."

"NO! I am not going to just stand aside and let you sign your own death certificate!"

Immediately, all conversation in the dining room ceased as everybody turned their attention to the brawling Freeman brothers.

"Oh, so yo gay ass is gonna compare my like-minded people to a death certificate? Is dat how it is? You tryna rub off all yo hate on me. I don' play dat game, nigga. I keeps it real."

"Keeping it 'real' doesn't mean joining a gang, Riley."

"Shuddup. You don't know _shit _about gaining street cred."

"I know enough to stay out of trouble and not get killed."

"Huey! I…am….not…going…to…get…killed. Does any of those words get through yo thick skull?"

"HOW CAN YOU NOT UNDERSTAND YOU RUN A RISK OF GETTING KILLED?"

"Huey, yo ass is starting ta look bad in front of all these people."

"I. Don't. Care." Huey clenched his fist and contorted his face into a menacing expression. "I would rather look like a villain than let my brother go down the same road that got my father killed."

"Huey, I ain't a bitch nigga. I know enough ta not get killed."

Huey's heart fell like a stone. He could not believe his ears when he heard his _own brother_ compare his _own father _to a 'bitch nigga.' He couldn't take it anymore…something within Huey snapped as all his usually strong inhibitions fell by the wayside.

"DON'T COMPARE OUR FATHER TO A BITCH NIGGA!"

"Huey –"

"You just don't understand, do you? I can't believe you are _disrespecting_ our own father in front of my _face_. You are disgraceful. You are disrespectful. I guess that's what happens when you weren't there to witness your own father's death."

"Huey stop!" Granddad immediately cut in. He stood up from his seat and waved his knife eerily towards Huey. "Just let the boy go. Ain't no harm in doing that."

Everybody in the room kept their mouths shut as the Freeman family descended into civil war.

"Granddad, do you even know who Marcus is?"

"He's a friend of Riley. Ain't he?"

"Not just any friend. Riley joined a gang a year ago. It's amazing he's still alive today because statistically speaking; he should have been dead a long time ago. I don't want him to die, Granddad. I don't."

Granddad rubbed his temples, blatantly irritated by Huey's apparently absurd insinuations about Riley's gang membership.

"Huey, he's not part of a gang. He's just going out with friends, okay? Out of all people, I thought you knew the differences between a group of friends and a gang."

"HE IS PART OF A GANG! HE TALKS ABOUT IT EVERYDAY!"

"Huey, do you know how much of an irritation you are raising inside me?"

"I don't care, Granddad!"

"Huey, if you don't _shut_ your mouth, I will _disown_ you. Goddamn, you're the most irritating grandson I've ever met! You're worse than all your seven-year-old cousins _combined!_"

Huey couldn't believe it. Now his own Granddad refused to believe him…a common occurrence for the past eight years. Huey literally went nuclear on the spot…this was the wrong time not to listen to him.

"YOU THINK I'M IRRITATING!" Huey shouted with a booming voice, "You think that by me trying to keep Riley out of harm's way is _irritating_? After all these years, I've tried to keep you guys out of trouble! You _really_ want to know what's more irritating?" Huey paused to look at Granddad's incredulous reaction, "It's irritating that I'VE BEEN IGNORED TIME AND TIME AGAIN ONLY TO WATCH YOU INCOMPETENT PEOPLE MAKE A MESS THAT I HAVE TO CLEAN UP!"

Huey began to pant, a fountain of sweat poured down his forehead as his nuclear anger and discontent continued to brew within his soul. He continued before either Granddad or Riley could respond.

"This will be a mess bigger than the ones you've left behind. And I'm so goddamn tired of cleaning them up for you…"

But before Huey could finish, Granddad walked up to Huey and delivered a harsh and stunning slap across the face in front of everybody at the dinner table. Granddad didn't even stop there…he whipped out his belt from his waist and sent the belt crashing upon Huey's face. He continued to bludgeon Huey for thirty seconds before letting up.

The stings of bees and wasps would pale in comparison to Granddad's mirthless punishment. The embarrassment of public humiliation only served to synergistically combine with Huey's anguish.

Huey crumpled to the floor, out of sight of the harsh stares he was receiving from the dinner table. Not only did his own family refuse to listen to him, he was receiving _punishment_ for trying to help them. Worse, this punishment only lessened his legitimacy in front of the people sitting at the dinner table. Huey could feel his nuclear anger fade away, which was gradually replaced with a cold sensation invading his heart.

Riley, taking advantage of Huey's vulnerable situation, decided walk around his crumpled and disgraced brother. He headed towards the front door to leave. Huey didn't have the energy or motivation to pursue his brother in an effort to keep to his promises to his dead father about keeping Riley off the same road that led to his demise.

As Riley wrenched the door open and slammed it upon leaving the Dubois residence, Huey saw a drop of maroon land on his white shirt. He brought his right hand to his nose and put it in front of his eyes, only to see his own blood on his fingers. Huey stared up at his own grandfather with bewilderment and lament. Huey and Granddad locked stares for what seemed like a suspenseful eternity.

_SLAM!_

Before Huey knew it, he was already stomping his way toward the front door, subsequently slamming it off its hinges and walking into the cold, snowy night. The sky above him had turned to a melancholy overcast one. Snowflakes fluttered and swirled around him, but he didn't mind. There was something about the arctic wind that calmed his raging soul. Drips of maroon continued to stain his white shirt, but he didn't give a damn.

"Huey!"

Huey couldn't bring himself to even care about who was calling his name. He lacked the motivation to turn around. Instead, he continued to walk along the icy road, his destination unknown.

"Huey."

Finally, whoever was calling his name had caught up to him. Huey decided to shut his eyes and hang his head, refusing to face the only person who seemed to care about him in the world. He felt so useless. He was only trying to help his own brother…his own family, and what does he get in return?

"Huey, look at me."

Huey abruptly stopped in his tracks. Another drop of blood tarnished his shirt as the wind picked up. He didn't even look up at this person, but he already knew whom it was. He realized he hurt Jazmine just moments ago, so why would she pursue him? Was it because _she_ wanted to punish him even more? It would have been unnecessary…the cruel universe had already exacted its revenge upon him.

"Huey…I'm sorry."

Huey finally opened his eyes slowly. He turned to face Jazmine in a manner so haltingly that she winced as Huey slowly lifted his head to look at her.

Jazmine stared into Huey's eyes…his auburn eyes glinted in the fading moonlight with an anguish she never saw in him.

"Why?" Huey softly spoke.

"I'm sorry I was mad at you."

"No. You have every right to be mad at me." Huey stared down at his shoes and continued to walk again, hoping Jazmine wouldn't follow him.

Jazmine ran up to Huey and grabbed a hold of his shoulders and turned him around.

"No, I don't. Look, I realize you were only trying to get me to understand that I need to widen my perspectives."

"Yeah, and apparently I fail miserably at doing that. People just hate me whenever I try to help them. Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut. Nobody in this world wants to hear me, so why should I share my opinions with an imperceptive world? I'm so sick and tired of helping people. I should just concentrate on helping myself."

Huey turned to the sky and muttered, seemingly to nobody in particular. "I'm sorry Dad. But I don't know what to do anymore. I give up. I can't do this anymore."

Jazmine placed a hand on Huey's shoulder in an attempt to assuage him. She never saw him get affected by any degree of being jaded. It was so uncharacteristic of Huey to give up. She needed him to stay alive and well.

"Huey, don't give up. Please."

"Why? Why should I try to keep fighting against ignorance if it always wins?"

"Huey, the only reason why people hate it when you 'help' them is because of the way you present yourself. Because it seemed like you were insulting me about my religious views. If you want to help people, maybe you should try to lighten up a bit. If you do that, maybe people will start listening to you."

Jazmine offered him a small smile.

Huey sighed. He brought his sleeve to his nose to wipe it. He saw a stain of maroon on his sleeve and he groaned.

"You should probably get a new shirt. C'mon, let's go back to my house."

Jazmine offered Huey a hug. Huey stood there, wondering why, out of all people, Jazmine was the only person who seemed to understand him. There was something about them…it seemed like a bond of understanding was established between them ages ago. It was as if Jazmine had known Huey in a past life. Huey finally came to the realization that Jazmine was all that he got. Nobody else in this world gave a damn about him. Not even his own family.

Huey and Jazmine walked through the front door, expecting everybody to have returned to their joyous conversations about any frivolity in their lives, but instead was greeted by a heavy atmosphere…there was something that had gone awry, and Huey immediately sensed it.

The first sight Jazmine and Huey saw was an unconscious Caesar lying unmoving on the ground. His mother was on the ground beside him, trying to get him to wake up. Tom was on the phone, calling 911 and disclosing the location and situation of the emergency. Everybody else formed a circle around the unconscious teenager, probably from alcohol intoxication. Caesar had already drunk the entire bottle of champagne without anybody noticing, and by the time his mother realized this, it was too late as he collapsed to the floor. Caesar's breathing was abnormally shallow.

"Caesar!" Jazmine exclaimed.

Everybody turned to see Huey and Jazmine with bewildered faces. Apparently the shock of staring at one teenager unconscious on the floor and another with a bloodied shirt was enough to scare them to hell and back.

Huey shook his head as he saw a comatose Caesar sprawled across the floor with a cup of champagne spilled right next to him.

Finally, an ambulance arrived at the Dubois residence with not a minute to spare. The paramedics loaded Caesar onto a stretcher and brought him to an ambulance, where he was hooked up to a ventilation system. Huey, Jazmine and Ms. Caesar decided to go with Caesar in the ambulance.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Jazmine asked Caesar's mother.

"I hope so. He's my only son!"

In less than five minutes, Caesar was already being wheeled to the emergency room, where to doctors and nurses followed procedures to resuscitate the unconscious Caesar.

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Caesar's mother asked.

"This is a classic case of alcohol intoxication. I think your son has developed cirrhosis…how long do you think he has been drinking?"

"What does cirrhosis mean?"

"It means he has chronic liver failure." Huey interjected.

Caesar's mother gasped as tears arrived to her eyes. "It never came to my attention that my boy has been drinking!" Caesar's mother sniffled between words. "I've been neglecting him!"

Jazmine patted Ms. Caesar's back in an attempt to console her. After thirty minutes of suspense in the waiting room, one of the nurses came out to give Ms. Caesar an update on her son's condition.

"Your son is in serious condition…but at least he isn't critical –"

Ms. Caesar began to bawl as the nurse gave her the grave news.

"We believe he has chronic liver failure…now we believe your son has developed cirrhosis. The condition is irreversible, and he might need a liver transplant. We are going to stress that your son…if he survives…should follow a strict diet and stay away from any liver-damaging substances. We are going to prescribe antibiotics to prevent infection of the liver and further damage."

Caesar's mother began to weep openly. Jazmine tried to assuage her by giving her an embrace, which only served to increase the intensity of her crying.

"You can see him, if you like. We moved him to an intensive-care unit."

The nurse led the trio to Caesar's room in a section of the hospital reserved for people who require intensive-care medicine.

Caesar wearily opened his eyes and stared towards Huey, Jazmine and his mother.

"Michael! You're okay!" His mother exclaimed, tears obscuring her vision.

"How are you feeling, Caesar?"

"Shitty." Caesar simply said. He tried to sit up, but his head was struck with an unbearable pain shooting through the base of his skull and into his brain. He fell back into his pillow.

"Ugh…" Caesar groaned. "I feel so stupid."

"What were you thinking?" Huey asked. "You could have killed yourself."

"The prospect of getting killed is better than living a life afflicted with problems."

"What are you talking about?"

"Huey, I never told you that my mother just filed for bankruptcy a year ago. We're planning to foreclose the house, and we don't know where we could find the money to settle our debt. And I feel so guilty that I thought I was living a good life while my mom was languishing about our finances. I feel so stupid. It's my fault that I kept asking my mom for things I wanted…she cares so much about me that she would go out of her way to protect me and satisfy me. It's my fault that she's so miserable."

"Michael…" His mother chimed in, "listen honey, we will get through this. I promise."

"Ma, please don't make promises you can't keep."

"Michael. Look me in the eye. We will get through this."

The trip to the hospital shed some light on Caesar's problems…but Huey couldn't help but be unnerved by his best friend's choice in vices. He couldn't even believe Caesar would drink to the point of nearly killing himself. But his mother was up to her neck in debt and he himself felt guilty that he could do nothing to help the Caesars.

"Huey? Is there something wrong?" Jazmine asked. They stood in front of the Dubois residence after returning from the hospital.

"It's just…I don't know. It just seems like my life is beginning to unravel before my eyes. I mean, Caesar almost killed himself tonight, Riley is facing the risks of gang warfare…what's next?"

Jazmine walked up to Huey and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Whatever happens I'll be by your side." Jazmine stared up into Huey's eyes.

Huey and Jazmine shared an embrace before he spoke up once more.

"Jazmine…I'm sorry if I insulted you earlier."

"It's okay, Huey."

"No, it's not okay."

"Huey, you were only trying to help. Although you have a weird way of showing it, I appreciate what you're trying to do. I really do. Just remember that you shouldn't be so hostile."

Jazmine looked up and gazed at the mistletoe hanging above their heads. She gestured to it, and Huey looked up to see it. Jazmine stood on her tiptoes to kiss Huey on the cheek.

"BAWWWW!"

Huey and Jazmine saw a flash of light and turned to see where it came from. Tom and Sarah stood in the open front door with cameras and were smiling as they took pictures of the couple.

"Look. They're growing up so fast."

"I remember when they were only ten years old…we could never separate Jazmine from Huey!"

Huey and Jazmine let go of each other and glared at the Dubois parents.

Huey finally returned home to the Freeman residence. As he walked up the stairs and onto the second floor landing, he saw the light in Riley's room on. He walked over to Riley's door and opened it, gasping as he saw Riley covered in scars and bleeding profusely from his right arm.

"Riley!"

"Nigga, let go of me. I ain't gonna need you goddamn help!"

"Riley, listen to me. You are going to get killed if you don't stop hanging out with Marcus. Now do you understand what you've gotten yourself into?"

"Dammit Huey, I don't give two _shits_ about what you think! Just drop it, okay?"

"Riley…why can't you learn from our father's mistakes."

"Dammit, if you don't stop mentioning 'bout our father, imma shoot you! He's dead, Huey! He don't matta no mo. Get outta my room!"

"Riley…how could you say that?"

"DAMMIT HUEY, I AXED YOU TO GET OUT MY FUCKIN ROOM!"

"Riley, how could you disrespect –"

But before Huey could finish his sentence, Riley shoved Huey out of his room and through the door.

"Merry Christmas, nigga."

Before Riley could slam the door in his face, Huey kept the door open by placing his foot on the door.

Huey shook his head at Riley, who was fuming at him in response.

"How could you not understand…?"

"How could _I_ not understand? How could _you_ not understand? Know what, yous one miserable nigga. Dat's why you always wearin' that stupid scowl all the time. You're too miserable to even accept me FOR WHO I AM!"

Huey's heart shattered into millions of splintered pieces as Riley slammed the door in his face.

"No. I do accept you for who you are. I'm just trying to protect you." Huey softly spoke.

And with that, Huey hung his head as he slowly made his way back into his room. Maybe he would be able to think this over after sleeping on it.

"Merry Christmas, Riley."

* * *

Yes, I know I didn't update last week. Hopefully I don't get too much backlash for that. To say the least, my time management skills are subpar lately. Anyway, I realize Christmas isn't until two or three weeks from now but I decided to just go ahead and write a chapter with a Christmassy theme to it.

Seriously, I couldn't wait to get this chapter written especially since the 39-year-old Huey Freeman timeline starts to see some action in this chapter. Huey's struggle against Sandra Palein will gradually become a central part of the plot as the story goes on, and I assure you that some bad shit is going to happen. I guess I was inspired to write a story about an older Huey Freeman fighting against the powers that be when I was listening to an album by Public Enemy while I was watching Fox News a few months back. So then everything clicked, and voila! Huey Freeman versus a radical government that suppresses our rights as citizens! It's what Huey always wanted to do: lead a rebellion against the Powers that Be.

If you're asking if Sandra Palein is based on the real life Sarah Palin, I'll leave that guess up to you.

Anyways, I'd like to thank KODfreak, MissG2020, iAnneart01, and DaveTheWordsmith for your reviews!

And I hope you have a nice and merry Christmas also! Happy Holidays!

Disclaimer:_ I don't own the Boondocks...they are owned by Aaron McGruder, the Universal Press Syndicate and Sony Pictures Television. It also is not my intentions to insult anybody of the Catholic religion. The views stated in this story are based on the views of Huey Freeman, not mine._


	9. Ides of March

Ides of March

"Madam President, you will need to address the nation sooner or later."

"Would you hold on? These executive addresses don't come easy, don'tcha know?"

"Right…well, the press is waiting for a response at the top of the hour."

The scene at the White House was hectic. Thousands of advisors were literally pouring in and out of the Oval Office by the _minute_ as Sandra Palein's nefarious plans were underway. The sad thing was, only a select _few _of these advisors knew what exactly was going on.

"Okay, we're going to need a _very _persuasive and believable speech." Sandra mentioned to her closest advisors near her desk. "We need to make sure that every citizen out there _thinks_ that we're under attack and they will be looking up to us for security."

"I believe that would be easy to achieve. The news reports have already made the public believe we were attacked by Terrorists." Her Chief of Staff mentioned. "All you need to do is outline what you'll be doing in the next few years…just sugarcoat it as a form of 'defense' and 'protection' and every citizen will believe you."

It was only two hours after the supposed 'Terrorist" attack on a major Air Force base in North Carolina. President Palein had already scheduled another brutal attack on Langley Air Force Base in Virginia in order to wipe out the headquarters of the Air Combat Command. The attack was scheduled to start –

"MADAM PRESIDENT!"

"Yes?" President Palein whipped her eyes up at the beleaguered advisor with an imperceptible smile creeping up on her lips.

"The…the…T-T-Terrorists…they just attacked Langley Air Force Base!"

"Well isn't that a shame…" President Palein tried to sound natural and genuine about this "surprising" attack.

"W-what do we do?"

"Well, I just declared Martial Law, didn't I?"

"Yes you did, Madam President."

"Then make sure that every FBI agent, National Guard troop and federal troops are deployed around Washington, DC and within a hundred mile radius. We'll deploy more troops around the nation throughout the week to heighten security."

Just then, a burly man with balding grey hair walked through the doors to the Oval Office, pushing aside the other petty advisors in his way. He plowed his way through the sea of advisors to reach the President's desk.

"Ah, Russell Smith. Pleasant day, isn't it? What brings you here?"

"Madam President, I'm afraid we have a Central Intelligence Agency leak."

"Well, you're the Director of the CIA. You job is to make sure nobody leaks out any information." President Palein maintained her tranquil behavior as if a CIA leak was the least of her problems at the moment.

"Um…it's not necessarily _information_ that has leaked."

"What are you talking about?" Palein laughed between words.

"Let's just say that _it_ could leak information at a later date."

Sandra Palein's eyes began to grow wide as she came to the realization of Smith's words. She straightened in her chair and stood up, coming face to face with her subordinate.

"Don't tell me we let another agent slip through the cracks."

"Um…well boss. I don't know what to say. Remember your 'Governmental Cleansing' program that you launched two years ago?"

"Yeah, I remember. That program is still in effect today to eradicate anyone in the Federal Government who I suspect is conspiring to topple my Administration. What about it?"

"Madam President, we have an escapee."

"How in the world did you let someone escape!" Palein shrieked.

"Never mind _how_ this person escaped. We should concentrate on _who_ escaped."

"Well, stop stalling! Who escaped!"

"Two years ago, you had twelve agents in the CIA and six agents in the Department of Defense that were supposed to be eradicated by the Secret Service. We just found out that they evaded this and faked their deaths. Today, I suspect that these agents have formed a rogue team that is still recruiting other people to form some sort of Resistance. And the fact that _all_ of these agents know most of your plans, this is probably the biggest leak that we've seen so far. God knows what they could do with that information…"

"Who are the names of these rogue agents?"

"Well, we have only one name so far…his name is Buckner Ogden. Two years ago, he was a high-ranking CIA agent who was supposed to be 'accidentally' killed. Apparently, eleven other members who were slated for execution also evaded their deaths since Buckner helped them escape, as well as the other six agents from the Pentagon. We also know that he has worked a second job as Mayor of Chicago for a decade by now…especially since he was an undercover agent."

"Well, what are you waiting for? March your asses up to Chicago and slaughter them!"

"That's the problem…he's pretty much _untraceable_ at this point. He has gone under the radar. In other words, he's just a _ghost _in society. We don't even know if he's still in Chicago."

"How the hell does the Mayor of the third largest city in the United States go under the radar?"

"You need to keep in mind that he was an undercover, high ranking agent of the CIA for most of his life. Once a spy, always a spy as they say. He probably has every skill to evade any detection from the government at this point."

Sandra Palein fell back into her chair as the room began to spin before her eyes. She rubbed her temples as a lightheaded feeling came upon her. She couldn't believe it! How could somebody evade her Cleansing program? If Buckner Ogden could escape this program, then who knows what havoc he could be causing right now?

"What do you think Buckner is trying to do?" Sandra Palein wearily stared up at Russell Smith.

"Well," Russell began, "if I was conspiring against the federal government, the first thing I would do is recruit people. Then I would sabotage the government's plans, especially since I would know everything that the government is going to do…right down to the _second_. I would also be looking for a Presidential contender to defeat the Incumbent in the next election."

Russell Smith summed up every tactic of Buckner's with impeccable accuracy. But why not? Russell had known Buckner for twenty years by now. Russell and Buckner were rivals in the CIA before he was supposed to be murdered. Interestingly, they had everything in common…even their thought processes were nearly identical to the point where they seemed like carbon copies.

Palein's face contorted into a demonic menace as Russell elaborated word-for-word, action-for-action for what exactly Buckner would do.

"Who do you think will be the contender?"

Russell shrugged his shoulders. "I absolutely do not know."

"I…want…you…to find…Buckner." Palein growled through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry, but like I said, he's untraceable –"

Palein was not in the mood for Russell's words. In retaliation, she threw her pen at Russell's face.

"I don't give a _damn_ if he's untraceable. You trace him with every resource you have. You're the goddamned _CIA_ for Pete's sake! I don't care if you need the FBI on their asses, I. Want. You. To. Find Them!"

"Yes, madam President."

"I'll tell you a story. It's a good bedtime story, actually. You might want to tell your kids this wonderful bedtime story if you're _not around_." Sandra Palein smiled at Russell, although this smile was tarnished with the evil eyes she was shooting at her subordinate.

"Okay…" Russell felt shivers run up and down his spine as he involuntarily sat down in the chair in front of the President's desk.

"I remember when I was the Governor of Alaska. Great landscape; purple mountains, awe-inspiring skies, and clear blue lakes. Do you know who my Chief of Staff was at the time?"

"Yeah, it was Emanuel Tevez. He mysteriously disappeared in the middle of your term as Governor."

"Well, sad thing what happened to Emanuel. He was the quiet type, but he had a voice that could capture your attention in a second. He _meticulously_ followed my orders like a dog. Great guy. But one day, he decided to go against my wishes for this project that would have built hundreds of oil rigs across Alaska. Instead, he cancelled the project since he had a pathetic tree-hugging ideology. He pretty much undermined the largest project that could have advanced Alaska _hundreds _of years into the future in terms of energy production…and I absolutely abhorred him for that. You want to know what happened to him after that?" Palein asked with a sweet voice, her spectacled eyes lighting up like a thoroughly lit Christmas tree.

Russell Smith, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, was chilled to the bone as Sandra Palein was about to disclose what happened to her dissenting Chief of Staff. He swallowed, his throat insufferably dry as he anticipated the worst.

"I decided to drag him out to a highly secluded area in the woods deep inside Alaska. I chained him up so that he wouldn't escape. And finally, after a few hours of driving through a tough terrain, I dropped him off in an area heavily populated with Grizzly Bears. Apparently, they didn't have any food for what seemed like several months because the moment I dropped Emanuel off, they mauled him to bits." Palein chortled in a demonic laugh as if she was proud of her actions. "Do you even _know_ how hard it is to wash blood of your new pickup truck?"

Russell Smith felt as if his heart was submerged in ice-cold water. He felt his blood freeze in place as his lungs involuntarily constricted. His breathing began to feel heavy…

"And if you _don't _find Buckner within the next two weeks, you will meet the same fate as poor old Emanuel. Got it?" Palein said with a haunting sweet voice. Her intentions were anything _but_.

Russell began to convulse in his seat. He could do nothing but nod his head as he realized that he would be _dead_ in two week's time.

"Good. Now go. I'm pretty sure you have a lot of work to do, Mr. Director."

Russell stumbled out of his seat and ambled his way to the Oval Office's doors. Once he was out of the Oval Office, he took off with faster than an Olympic sprinter, screaming as if he just saw a phantom.

Sandra Palein smiled as she fiddled with a pencil in her two hands. After a few seconds of twirling it around between her fingers, she snapped it in two using her two hands.

"_We are turning live to the Oval Office in the White House to listen in on President Sandra Palein's address to the nation."_

Thirty miles away, a thirty-nine year old Huey Freeman was watching the news from the Principal's office along with Buckner, his seventeen other agents, and Henry Burns, the principal of his alumni. As the networks turned to Sandra's address to the nation, Huey felt a strange sinking feeling as the all-too familiar bespectacled redhead appeared on the television, broadcasting from the Oval Office.

"_My fellow Americans. We are facing hard times. I know that you have just witnessed the terrifying terrorist attack on two of our important air force bases on our own homeland. This is why it is imperative that I declare Martial Law right now in order to ensure the security of the millions of citizens out there –"_

Huey quickly jumped right out of his seat and bellowed at the television.

"Ensure the security? The _SECURITY_? You're trying to ensure the suppression of our _human rights!_"

"Huey! Shut it!"

"_And to make sure that all protocols are followed, the Federal government will take over every National Guard troop in all fifty states, along with the United States army to secure most – if not all – public places. I am also deploying the Secret Service to oversee our tightened security measures. I just want to assure you, as citizens of the United States, that you will be safe as long as these troops are put in place to guard our major cities." _

Huey was about to launch himself at the television, but was immediately restrained by several of Buckner's agents. Huey's goliath stature made this task extremely difficult.

"Huey, stop! Annihilating a television set won't get you anywhere! You should focus your energy and passion towards the cause! Use that energy…channel it towards your upcoming Presidential campaign!"

Immediately, Huey's muscles relaxed as Buckner's logic overrode Huey's irrational rage.

"You…want me to be President?"

"Well, we've established that an hour ago, Huey. But I predict your campaign will be very precarious…if not fatal."

"Fatal?"

"Well…considering that Sandra Palein does not want her plans to be foiled thanks to a failed reelection campaign, I'm pretty sure she's going to try to silence any politician who may represent her opposition. It's highly likely that you will need to _stay under the radar_ as you campaign…I see you're pretty good at that, Huey. The thing is, you don't rely heavily on television advertisements. You rely on inspirational speeches and word-of-mouth on the campaign trail, which makes you virtually untraceable since you don't rely heavily on technology to get the word out."

"So how dangerous is the campaign going to be?"

"Huey." Buckner began to pace around the room as he dove into his deep thoughts. "We're talking about the FBI trying to chase you. The CIA will be on your tail. Sandra Palein will probably hire Secret Service agents to act as hitmen. Huey…we're talking about _assassination attempts_. As long as you are silenced, Sandra Palein will be happy. She's going to use _every resource _at her disposal to get any form of opposition silenced."

Huey fell into his seat as his brain absorbed this information. _Assassination attempts?_ This presidential campaign is shaping up to be ever so dangerous…and the thing is _this Presidential election hasn't even started_.

"But this is why I'm here to help you, Huey. You see, I have eighteen rogue agents at my disposal. From now on, my job as well as these agents will be to make sure you are protected from any assassins. We will be on the lookout for you."

"Why did you choose me as the Presidential contender?" Huey's anger was marked in his voice.

"Huey, you shouldn't be mad at me. Listen to me. Look me in the eye and tell me what outweighs the other…your own soul, or the souls of millions of innocent citizens out there?"

Huey's face fell into deep contemplation.

"_This changes everything…how could I be so self-centered? It didn't matter if I'm risking my life! As long as I fight for the rights of the millions of innocent people out there, it doesn't matter if die trying to topple Palein."_

"Tell me, Huey. Is your life worth more than the entire nation's?"

Huey stared up at Buckner as he stopped pacing in the room and walked up to come face to face with Huey. Huey gave Buckner a firm and resounding reply.

"No. We are going to topple her regime and we're not going to stop at anything. We are going to shut her down by any means necessary…even if I end up killed."

Buckner's lips curled up into a small, yet sympathetic smile as Huey gave his response.

"Welcome to the Resistance, Huey Freeman."

Buckner extended his hand out to Huey. Huey stared at Buckner's hand and without hesitation, he took his right hand and shook it with Buckner's.

Henry Burns walked through the doors and into the office with a cup of coffee in hand. As he sat down in his chair, he gave Huey and Buckner a cup of coffee for their own.

"Thank you, Mr. Principal."

"Please, call me Henry. My father's name was Mr. Principal."

Buckner immediately caught on and realized Henry was mocking him. He gave a small smile at Henry in response.

Huey took notice of a large gleaming trophy standing on Henry's desk. Inscribed on it was large letters on the base of the trophy. Huey's eyes locked on it to know what achievement this specific trophy was awarded for:

2007 Baseball State Finals. Woodcrest High School, Three-time State Champions_._

"_Oh my God! Can you see what I'm seeing right now! Huey Freeman has just thrown the final strikeout for a Perfect Game to win the State Finals!"_

Henry Burns noticed Huey's eyes scanning over the trophy and gave Huey response.

"Ah, yes. That was the year when you pitched a perfect game to win the Maryland High School Baseball State Championship! I'll never forget that night."

Huey's stomach contorted into a strange knot as he remembered lifting that same trophy after he threw the final strikeout on that memorable April night twenty-one years ago. He could hear the crowd roaring into his ear…his teammates lifting him up to the air as he held the enormous trophy…and he could remember Jazmine. Her breathtaking amber eyes were lit up as Huey's gaze locked with hers.

And Huey immediately felt a strange sinking sensation in his chest as he realized he might never be able to reconcile with her for what he's done to her during the final Spring they would be together.

* * *

_March 14__th__, 2007_

"_Beware the Ides of March."_

A seventeen-year old Huey Freeman sat in his advanced placement European History class the day after his spring break. He sighed as he stared out of the window, overlooking a densely forested area adjacent to the school.

As Huey stared at the doves that nestled on the window, his eyelids began to feel heavy. His baseball coach had given the team a training regimen so ridiculous that even Kobe Bryant would have passed out. His spring break had been spent mostly at the baseball field honing on his pitching skills, leaving what was left of his spring break to sleep and eat. He hadn't had the time or energy to devote to Jazmine, which he felt guilty for.

"_Stupid Coach Girardi."_

Huey whipped his head towards his teacher as he realized he was being called on.

"Mr. Freeman, would you like to explain what happened on the fifteenth of March in the year 44 BC?"

Huey sighed before giving his teacher a concise oration about the Ides of March.

"Julius Caesar consolidated power during his reign as Dictator of the Roman Republic. As a result, members of the Roman Senate were unnerved by his meteoric rise to power and began to distrust him. Thus, the Senators were led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus as well as sixty other senators and stabbed Caesar twenty-three times to death in the Theater of Pompey. It is rumored that Caesar was warned by a seer on the way to the Theater, whom he disregarded. Nowadays, the Ides of March has often been considered as a harbinger of unseen things to come."

"Thank you, Mr. Freeman. See class, Huey here apparently reads his books and does his homework…"

Huey's mind began to trail off once again as his teacher gave him accolades.

"Huey!"

Jazmine emphatically ran up to Huey as he walked through the courtyard and towards the baseball fields, where he would spend the rest of his afternoon practicing for their next baseball game.

"Hey." Huey said without even a hint of enthusiasm. Apparently he was bogged down with his hectic schedule to the point where he lacked any energy to requite Jazmine's enthusiasm.

"What are you doing this afternoon?"

"On my way to the Black Student Union meeting first…then the Africans Fighting Racism and Oppression meeting…then baseball practice…then I have to go to work…then arrive back home at midnight to do my homework…then get some rest." Huey wearily said.

"Oh, okay." Jazmine said, although it sounded as if she was put off by this. "I thought we could go out on a date tonight, but I guess you're busy…"

"Yeah, that's the understatement of the year." Huey sardonically retorted as he rolled his eyes.

"But I could go to your baseball practice!" Jazmine's eyes immediately lit up, "I don't have anything to do for this afternoon."

"That's cool." Huey tried to stifle a yawn, but ultimately failed as he lifted his right fist to his mouth as an emphatic yawn escaped him.

"Listen, I was wondering if you were going to Prom this year." Jazmine said, her eyes gleaming in the sunlight as they locked onto Huey's faded ones.

"Jazmine, I already told you that prom is not only a waste of money, it's also a waste of time, which I don't have much of these days. I could go on about how frivolous these gatherings of adolescents are, but I don't want to waste my energy."

"Well, you'll think about it, right?"

"I'll think about it." Huey assured her.

And with that, Jazmine's shoulders slumped as she felt defeated. She began formulating the assumptions that she was last on Huey's list of priorities, which further fueled the fires of feelings of neglect. These feelings of neglect were already stoked thanks to her parents, which are rarely seen at her house nowadays.

Jazmine felt alone these days…and Huey wasn't doing much to assuage her from her fragile feelings.

"FREEMAN!" Coach Hoock, his pitching coach, yelled at Huey through a megaphone during baseball practice. "Coach Girardi wants a word with you."

Huey mumbled to himself as he made his way across the field to meet up with the head coach.

"Huey! Nice to see you!"

Huey returned Girardi's greeting with a blank stare of his own.

"Boy…you look tired. I might let you go early today. But that's beside the point…Huey, I want you to know that we've qualified for the Playoffs! This means that our next baseball game will be against Ed Wuncler High School, our most detested rival. This is the District Qualifying game and I want you to pitch in it. You up to the challenge?"

"Sure, I guess." Huey wearily retorted.

"You guess? You _guess_?" Girardi interjected, "Huey, you need to be sure of yourself! You are the captain of this team, so you need to assert yourself! Tell me, are _you up to the challenge_?" Girardi once again asked.

"Yes, I'm up to the challenge." Huey retorted, albeit with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Good, that's what I want to hear. I don't want any unsure responses from you, _Team Captain_. I want you to give me absolute responses with full confidence behind your words, you hear?"

"Fine. I _AM_ up to the challenge. Okay?"

"You better. You only have one shot to move on to the next game. Lose, and we're done. You got that _Freeman_?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good. Now I'll let you go home. Looks like you're gonna need some rest. I want you fully rested by the time you step on the mound for our Big Game, alright?"

"Sure…but I can't promise you anything." Huey shrugged. He _was_ speaking the truth…especially since his schedule dictated he only get a few hours of sleep at night.

"Well promise me this," Girardi spoke "that you pitch like Nolan Ryan on the day of our game. Can you promise me that?"

"Coach…when have I _not_ pitched like Nolan Ryan?"

"Well, I guess never. But just make sure you're well rested, okay?"

Huey assured his coach before walking towards the bleachers. He noticed Jazmine had already vacated the bleachers as she was nowhere to be found. Huey sighed as he made his way towards the exit until he saw a dreadlocked African American a few rows up in the seats.

"Caesar?"

"Huey. Hey." Caesar replied as he took a puff from the cigarette poking through his mouth.

Huey, not believing that Caesar turned to smoking as a replacement for his vices, made his way up the bleacher steps and took the seat adjacent to his best friend.

"Smoking? Caesar…I never expected this out of you."

"Yeah…I never expected this out of me either."

"Caesar, you have cirrhosis. You shouldn't be smoking."

Caesar turned his head towards Huey slowly. The sun revealed the features of Caesar's face: lifeless. It seemed Caesar was depressed beyond repair. Purple circles were made blatant around his eyes, which themselves were markedly more weary than even Huey's. His eyelids were drooping over his pupils as Caesar struggled to maintain his gaze at his best friend.

"That's the thing. What's the point of having a liver if you have to wait three years for a new one? On top of that, my mother would have to take out a _mortgage_ to pay for the operation."

Huey was immediately struck with a depressing sensation in his chest.

"Wait…are you telling me that you need a liver transplant?"

Caesar issued a heavy sigh before responding to Huey's inquisition.

"Yeah…the doctors just told me that my liver had just suffered permanent damage beyond repair and put me on the list of prospective liver transplants. They estimated it would take three years for me to get a new liver…and a hundred thousand dollars for the operation."

Caesar gave another pause before continuing. Huey noticed the heavily downtrodden expression written on Caesar's facial features.

"That doesn't even cover the medications that I would need to take for the twelve months after the operation. So what's the point? We all know my mother can't afford the operation, so what's the point of trying to keep this liver healthy when it's already dead?"

"Listen Caesar. You need to stop using vices. You're only killing yourself."

"Then let me!" Caesar immediately retorted, "my mother wouldn't have to deal with another titanic hospital bill if I die! She wouldn't have to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars if I'm gone! She'll have one less problem on her plate…"

Caesar let a tear drop to the floor. Huey noticed this as he saw a gleaming star fall from Caesar's face.

"Caesar…" Huey tried, but he couldn't find the words to comfort his best friend.

"My mother would be happy. I've been holding her back all these years. I don't want to do that anymore. Just let me go." Caesar simply sighed.

"No. Your mother would be more depressed then you are right now. I don't think any mother out there would be able to live with their only child taken from her."

Caesar shook his head as Huey spoke. He took another puff of the cigarette before coughing severely.

"Listen, your mother would not be happy if she saw you smoking. It would break her heart. Just promise me that you find a way to quit."

Caesar stood up, preparing to leave as he hoisted his backpack over his shoulders.

"I can't promise you anything." Caesar retorted before making his way down the steps and towards the exit.

"_Huey! Do you know where he is?"_

It was midnight, on the ides of March as Huey cruised down the freeway, leaving his workplace and returning back to his residence. His cell phone was pressed to his ear as Caesar's mother was clearly worried about the whereabouts as to where her son was.

"No…I thought he went back home this afternoon…?"

Although Huey knew Michael Caesar's schedule inside and out, he was still unsure of his words…he felt a tight knot form in his chest as Caesar's mother was audibly beginning to weep on the phone.

"He never came home, Huey! I thought he was with you!"

Immediately, Huey's heart sank into an icy feeling. Without realizing it, Huey applied pressure on the gas pedal as the speedometer's needle gradually closed in on 100 miles per hour. Luckily, Huey didn't have to share the road with anybody at this time of day. The freeway was deserted, save for him.

"No, he left after my baseball practice. I don't know where he went. Have you tried calling him?"

"I've called him fifty times, Huey! He hasn't picked up at least _once_. You need to find him!"

"I'll be there in five minutes, Ms. Caesar."

And with that, he snapped the phone closed and threw it into the passenger's seat as he floored the gas pedal. He didn't mind that he was racing down the freeway at 130 miles per hour, all he could think about was his best friend. He saw Caesar this afternoon…he looked so distraught. Huey could only hope that Caesar hasn't tried anything stupid.

"_Listen Caesar. You need to stop using vices. You're only killing yourself."_

"_Then let me!" Caesar immediately retorted, "my mother wouldn't have to deal with another titanic hospital bill if I die! She wouldn't have to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars if I'm gone! She'll have one less problem on her plate…"_

Huey could only hope…

"Huey! You're here!"

Caesar's mother was standing in the doorway of her house, looking absolutely devastated. Huey stared into her eyes and felt so useless as he caught her distraught gazes.

"Huey, you need to help me find Michael. He could be anywhere!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know where is. I really don't. You need to call the cops and report that he's missing. They might be of better help than I am."

Huey saw his best friend's mother bite her lower lip as the words crashed upon her ears. Not one person knows where her only son could be…not even Cindy, Jazmine or Hiro.

"Do you mind if I come in?" Huey asked. It was probably a stupid question, but he felt as though he would find something important in Caesar's room…

"Sure child, come in. It's cold outside."

Huey stepped in the Caesar residence and began walking up the stairs, feelings of apprehension washing over him, filling his every fiber as he took step after another step towards his best friend's room.

_Creaak…_

Huey stepped into Caesar's room, looking around the dimly lit room. The one thing that caught his attention was a gleaming bottle of Captain Morgan hastily stashed into one of the drawers of Caesar's desk. He glared at it, realizing Caesar has not been following doctor's orders to stop drinking alcohol.

He walked over to Caesar's desk, pulling the rum bottle out of the drawer. It easily slid out of the desk, followed by a small note attached to it. It fell to the floor in front of Huey's knees as he kneeled down and picked it up.

As Huey's eyes ran over the note, he felt a sinking feeling as if a black hole swallowed his heart and replaced it with cold emptiness. It felt as if twenty-three icy knives pierced his chest where his heart should have been…

"_Huey, by the time you're reading this, I have already fled Woodcrest."_

Huey placed his right hand against his forehead as feelings of dread and apprehension invaded every nerve in his body. It was insufferable to even attempt to comprehend that his best friend has probably written a suicide note…

"_I have gone to a place where I know souls will be able to rest. From up here, the peace and tranquility makes me wonder why I have spent so many years suffering while I was down there. I'm very sorry, Huey but don't expect me to come back. I know that I have been a terrible friend for the past year…you always tell me, 'what happened to the old Caesar?' Well, some days when I feel so down, I look in the mirror and even I don't recognize the person standing in my reflection. If you get this note, please tell my mother that I'm sorry. I realize that my liver is no longer functional…sometimes it pains me as I think about how much trouble my mother would go through trying to replace it. She's been a great mother and I don't know where I would be without her. I would rather suffer twenty-three stabs to the heart than see her suffer one more second because of my own doing."_

"No…no! You can't do this, Caesar!" Huey shouted, yet he already knew it was too late…

He couldn't even bear to look at the rest of Caesar's note. He dropped the note the ground and collapsed, feeling as if all positive aspects of life were just sucked out of his soul.

"_Huey, if you don't accept my apology, then I understand. I know I would never forgive myself for what I did either."_

Huey felt his fists clench as each and every word blurred behind the veil of tears obscuring his eyes.

"_Please tell my mother that I love her. You've been a good friend, Huey. I know I haven't. Thank you for being there for me for the past eight years."_

Just as Huey finished reading the note, Caesar's mother burst into the room. She heard Huey's pained cries of anguish and immediately ran into Caesar's room.

Huey straightened up, attempting to stem the flood of emotions pressing against the dam inside of his heart. He picked up his best friend's note and extended his hand towards Caesar's mother, his voice hoarse as he spoke.

"Michael says…that he loves you."

Caesar's mother began to fall apart in tears as her anguished eyes read the note.

"No…this can't be happening! Please tell me this can't be happening!" Caesar's mother wailed. It was no use…Michael Caesar was gone forever.

"I'm sorry –" But before Huey could finish, Caesar's mother threw her arms around Huey and gave him a tight embrace, sobbing as she dug her head into his chest. Huey involuntarily hugged her back, knowing nothing could be done to remedy her broken heart.

"I'm so sorry…" Huey softly spoke into Ms. Caesar's ears.

_Beware the Ides of March…_

"Freeman!"

Huey's head nonchalantly lifted up as a warm April wind caressed his face. It had been four weeks since his best friend's passing, but his grief continued to radiate through his soul. It shook him to the foundations…it crushed his very essence…it left him empty.

Huey was never one who knew how to grieve…

"Freeman! Look up at me. Don't stare at me like I'm some idiot! I want you to get up and start practicing…we've qualified for the State Finals and I want you to be at your tip top shape, you understand?"

Huey emptily moved his chin up and down to make it look as if he was nodding his head. Maybe if he made it look like he was complying with Coach Girardi, then he would be left alone.

"Alright, then. Get your ass up and start pitching! Goddamn, you're so hard to motivate these days."

It felt as if life had become an empty blur around him. For the past four weeks, he couldn't remember how to feel anything. He deduced that life was just a matter of being alive and receiving information from the world through your five senses…nothing more.

As Huey picked the baseball up, he gazed at the catcher as he anticipated his pitch. Huey threw it with all his might…or what he perceived was all his might.

"What the hell was that, Freeman?" Coach Hoock shouted through the megaphone.

Huey only shrugged and muttered "A fastball?"

"Dammit, I want you to pitch like you mean it! Quit fooling around!"

Huey threw another fastball, but in the eyes of Coach Hoock and Girardi, it seemed like he lacked any enthusiasm at playing baseball.

Coach Girardi jogged up to Huey and came face to face with his distraught pitcher.

"Listen Freeman. I don't have time to fool around and you don't either. We have the State Championships in one week and if you don't start playing for real, you're gonna wish you never injured Bryce Perry. Do you understand a _fucking_ word that's coming out of my goddamn mouth?"

Huey only gave a slight nod at Coach Girardi in response.

"Good. Now get your ass working. We've come too far for you to fail."

Huey turned his attention to the catcher sixty feet in front of him. From his distorted perspective, it seemed like the catcher was a _mile_ in front of him. He trained his eye on the catcher's mitt and launched the ball towards it.

It was like trying to hit a bull's eye from a mile away. And yet, as Huey straightened up from his pitch, the catcher was pressed against the backstop with the ball in his mitt.

And for the first time in four weeks, a flame burned inside Huey. The first emotion he felt since his best friend's passing was rage. He was angry at his coach…he was angry at Caesar…he was angry at everybody. Everybody just seemed to make the most ill minded decisions, even if he tried to speak some sense into them. Nobody ever listened to him, not even Caesar. If Caesar had listened to him, Huey wouldn't have to grieve over his death.

"Goddammit Caesar, I hope you're happy!"

Huey involuntarily shouted that out loud as he launched another pitch at the catcher. As a result, he recoiled right into the backstop as he endured the brunt of the speeding baseball's inertia.

"That's it Freeman! You've got your groove back!"

Huey whipped his head at Coach Girardi and growled in retort.

"Alright! You've got your game face on!"

Huey's pitches only gained in strength as practice wore on. By the time the sun had set, Huey had already injured three catchers…and he was only getting started.

"Alright, Freeman. You're good to go. Jeez, are you like some kind of machine? Typically, pitchers would lose strength as the game goes on, but it looks like your pitches just _gained_ several miles per hour as practice wore on!" Coach Hoock said, blatantly impressed by Huey's endurance.

Huey was still noticeably fuming by the end of practice. He didn't even acknowledge the presence of either coach as he made his way towards the exit and to the parking lot.

Luckily, Huey didn't have to work these days. He turned in his two weeks notice for quitting a day after Caesar's untimely passing. He felt that money was just another aspect of life that you would have to slave over. There was no use in trying to gain money if you weren't living life anymore. Either way, Huey had an ample amount in his bank account – enough to buy two cars – so he wouldn't have to work anymore.

But Huey would spend the afternoons that were freed up in his schedule by staring out the window, watching as life passed him by. He could feel Caesar's presence behind him. He could remember Caesar's emceeing, his yo-momma jokes, and his strangely optimistic views on politics.

Huey arrived to the Freeman residence with an abrupt hug. Huey stumbled as a flash of curly copper-colored hair obscured his vision as he opened the door.

"Jazmine…" Huey said with a hoarse voice.

"I'm so sorry about what happened to Caesar!" Jazmine openly wept into Huey's shoulder.

Huey hadn't realized this, but he was too busy not living that he severed any connections with Jazmine for the past four weeks. He hadn't known that he was avoiding her at all costs…she was so out of the loop that she had just learned about Caesar's death just about now.

Huey patted Jazmine's back as she expressed her emotions like an unimpeded faucet. He couldn't take it anymore. He didn't want to be reminded of Caesar's death everyday, and Jazmine wasn't helping…

"I didn't know that's why you were avoiding me…" Jazmine barely whispered into Huey's ear as she struggled between her words.

Huey sighed as they rocked back and forth in their embrace. As they walked into the living room, Jazmine was still wiping the tears that were free falling from her face.

"Huey, I don't know what to say…"

"Then don't say it." Huey barely kept his voice above a whisper.

Huey and Jazmine sat on the couch as they seemed to devote a moment of silence for Caesar. Neither of them knew how to grieve, and Huey had already seen his parents go before his eyes. He thought he would never have to feel these pangs of grief that stabbed his chest…but he was wrong.

Finally, Huey reached into his backpack as he was desperate to keep his mind off Caesar. He realized he still needed to finish his Senior Project. He whipped out his thick paper-filled folder and immediately opened it. He hastily began writing as Jazmine sniffled beside him.

"Huey…listen. If you want to say anything, I'm here. I'm always going to stick by your side."

Huey nodded. Jazmine immediately threw her arms around him as her eyes met with his.

"Huey…I haven't seen you for the past four weeks."

Huey immediately brought his eyes to stare into Jazmine's amber ones.

"Maybe we could…I don't know, go to the hill and just hang out?"

"Jazmine, I don't have time. I need to finish my projects."

"Please, Huey? I don't know how you've been doing. Maybe we could –"

"Jazmine, I've been feeling downright _shitty_ for the past month. I don't want to talk about anything."

"Huey –"

"I have a senior project to do! Dammit Jazmine, don't you have one to do also?"

"I've already finished it. Maybe I could help you with –"

"Jazmine, I don't feel like sharing my time with _anyone_ right now."

"Well…could we hang out during the weekends maybe?"

Huey rubbed his temples…he did not feel like negotiating with Jazmine right now.

"Dammit, don't you see how busy I am now?" Huey's voice became tarnished with animosity.

"Huey…I'm your girlfriend. At least devote some of your time to me…anything…"

"I don't _have_ time, Jazmine! Look, I have to wrap up my final duties as President of three clubs, I need to practice for the State Championships, I need to find all my documents to apply for college and financial aid, I need to prepare for graduation, I have to finish my senior project, and on top of all of that, I'M GRIEVING FOR THE LOSS OF MY BEST FRIEND! There is _no time_ for you, Jazmine! Does any of that get through your thick skull?"

"I…I thought maybe you would want somebody with you as you try to let all of this sink in…" Jazmine hung her head.

Huey shut his eyes and collapsed in his seat.

"I don't want _anybody _with me as I try to let this sink in." Huey sharply retorted.

Jazmine kept silent for several minutes as Huey hastily wrote notes into his papers.

"Well…can you at least go to Prom with me?"

Huey once again gave an exasperated sigh, wishing that Jazmine would just leave already.

"Fine. I'll think about it, okay?"

"Okay." Jazmine meekly said.

The thing is, Huey was too absorbed in himself that he never realized Jazmine's obvious expressions of emotion written all over her face. Although she said it, she was far from being "okay."

Jazmine stood up, sensing that her presence was no longer welcome. She began to sulk towards the front door, but paused before she left the living room. She turned around to see Huey still angrily writing notes into his folder.

"Bye, Huey."

Huey didn't even bother to look up from his papers and continued to wrap up his Senior Project.

"Bye." Huey curtly responded.

Jazmine turned around slowly and opened the front door as she began to make her way towards the typically empty Dubois residence. She softly closed the front door behind her, but not before giving out a soft yet clearly audible sob.

* * *

This chapter comes to a point where Huey and Jazmine begin to fall apart. It sets up the inevitable reconciliation later on in the story...much later. And this chapter is only a foreshadowing of what is to come - kind of like the "Ides of March?" But I think this chapter begins to shed some light on why Huey could never forgive himself for neglecting Jazmine.

Quick shoutout to KODfreak, MissG2020, iAnneart01, and DaveTheWordsmith for your amazing reviews! They were truly encouraging and I really appreciate it =]

_Disclaimer: The Boondocks are owned by Aaron McGruder, the Universal Press Syndicate, and Sony Pictures Television._


	10. Lean On Me

Lean on Me

"We have a visitor today. His name is Huey Freeman, and he graduated from our high school with the class of 2007…"

As Henry Burns introduced him to the student assembly in the gymnasium, Huey stood behind the stage. He took in every single detail of the gym…the wooden floor, the musky smell, and the basketball hoops installed from the rafters. The gym hadn't changed one detail since his graduation.

"_C'mon Huey! Pass the ball!"_

Huey could clearly remember playing basketball with Jazmine, Hiro, Caesar and Cindy during his freshman year. He could see the ghosts of his old friends being imposed onto his vision by an overactive memory. He remembered the way Jazmine would try hopelessly to get the ball to sink into the hoop, yet no matter what she did, the basketball would find it's way over the backboard or well off the rim.

"This place reminds you of your childhood, doesn't it?"

Huey's ears picked up a strangely familiar voice behind him…the voice that he swore was the figment of his crazy imagination. The same voice that would keep him up late at night so many years ago that he swore he was having a schizophrenic attack…

And yet, here he was again, twenty-nine years later…

"Yeah…it does…"

Huey slowly turned around, coming face-to-face with none other than the White Shadow…a name he had given this specific government agent who stalked him while he was ten years old. Huey's eyes were immediately filled with shock when he saw the White Shadow hadn't changed despite the twenty-nine years that passed…he still had the earpiece in his ear…the same sunglasses that would keep his identity well hidden despite the fact that it would only hide one feature of his face…and the same gray hair gelled back and combed in a sleek, stylish way.

"What do you want from me? Did Palein send you to stalk me?"

The White Shadow's eyebrows stitched together into a scowl as Huey shot off his allegations.

"Sandra Palein doesn't even know I exist. The federal agency that I belong to is classified to a point where even the President doesn't even know if its existence."

"Then why are you shadowing me again?" Huey inquired with a low voice, acting as if somebody could be eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Let's just say that I am also what your friend Buckner calls a 'rogue agent.' It has come to my understanding that rogue agents from the CIA and the Pentagon have designated you as a presidential contender."

Huey nodded his head. "It all makes sense now…my imagination keeps playing tricks on me. I think I'm getting schizophrenic."

"I am not a figment of your imagination."

"Yes you are! Look, you haven't aged a day since the last time I saw you…and that was decades ago!"

"You listen to me, and you listen good because your fate hinges on this." The White Shadow snapped at Huey. "You might feel compelled to explain to these students exactly what Palein might be doing. I know that you understand Palein is trying to eradicate anybody who isn't a Catholic Caucasian. But you _cannot_ disclose this information to the general public just yet."

"Why?" Huey angrily bellowed at the White Shadow. "These people have a right to know that Palein is trying to 'cleanse' the population of 'impurities!' Have you _ever_ watched Faux News? Well, that is where we're headed if people don't know about this! Don't you see? She's trying to eliminate innocent people all in the name of 'defending against terrorism'!"

The White Shadow shook his head slowly as Huey bellowed each word into his face.

"Huey, you can tell as many people the truth to your heart's content…but the more people you tell, the easier it will be for Palein's police force to find out who the Resistance leader will be. And if they find that _you_ are the next leader, they will be here before you even take in another breath. You need to stay under the radar for as long as possible so that you can live long enough to get to the White House."

Huey brought his hand to his chin as the White Shadow instructed him not to give away any sensitive information.

"Do _not_ disclose any information about the Resistance or else Palein will immediately know who you are. Right now, she sees you as a mayor of some city from Maryland. That cover _should not_ be blown today. There are Resistance groups in every city across the nation who already know you as the next dissident, and if _you _disclose any information then you put every Resistance group in jeopardy."

"Why do you even care?"

The White Shadow raised an eyebrow at Huey.

"You were out to stalk me when I was ten years old. And now you want to _help_ me?"

"Let's just say I don't agree with what Palein is about to do. Look, do you want a twenty-first century Adolf Hitler in the White House? Do you want to be assassinated before Election Day? Before you _even_ take your seat in the Senate? Think about it Huey. I may have conducted espionage activities on domestic radicals such as yourself, but I also know enough to see that Palein is wrongly accusing innocent people of helping these so-called terrorists."

Huey issued a blank stare at the White Shadow, yet his mind was nothing but blank. Inside his head were thoughts racing through his mind as he pieced together the allegiance of this government agent with an ambiguous background.

"Huey." The White Shadow spoke again, "the real reason why it is _imperative_ that you stay under the radar is because the CIA already has files on you. Once Palein sees you as a threat to her administration, the CIA will inform her that you were once a domestic terrorist, and she _will_ use that to her advantage. She will label you as a terrorist, and she _will_ turn the American public against you. You have to stay under the radar."

"Well, you're part of the government. It would make it easier for the Resistance if you could delete my records." Huey suggested.

"You don't get it do you? Listen, Huey. The agency that I work with is not part of the CIA, so I won't be able to help you vindicate your name in the eyes of the government."

"Then you're of no help to me." Huey sharply retorted.

"Silly boy. You may be thirty-nine years old, but you are still a young fledgling compared to me. In the coming months, you will learn that I am crucial for your basic _survival_." The White Shadow lowered his voice ominously.

"_Basic survival?" _Huey's mind attempted to process these two words. _"Is he telling me that I would die at the hands of Palein without his assistance?"_

"How's Buckner Ogden doing?" The White Shadow immediately cut through Huey's racing thoughts. "Does he still act pretentious by calling himself the 'Mayor of Chicago'?"

Huey shifted his gaze back into the eerie pitch-black sunglasses on the White Shadow's face.

"Actually, yeah. How do you know who –?"

"Same old Ogden." The White Shadow scoffed. "That cocky attitude was what almost got him killed back when he still worked for the CIA. It wouldn't surprise me if someday Palein's hitmen get him assassinated. Despite his meticulous work ethic, he's still a very careless person."

The White Shadow casually walked past Huey after he finished his ominous prediction.

Huey spun around to call after the White Shadow but was met with nothing but thin air.

"_I seriously need to get checked out by a doctor."_

"Please, put your hands together for Mayor Freeman!" Henry Burns spat into the microphone. Upon hearing Huey's name, the students gave an emphatic applause as Huey walked towards the stage.

A group of teenagers who were too big to even be considered normal-sized for their age blocked Huey's path to the stage.

"Dude, you're Huey Freeman!"

Huey scrunched his face into a scowl, considering he had no patience for them.

"Yeah, what about it?" Huey casually said.

"You're a celebrity here! You're the only one who pitched a perfect game in our baseball team's history! And that was during the _State Championship_! You're effin' awesome, man! How come you don't play in the big leagues? You could have brought the Baltimore Orioles to the World Series for the first time in like, forever!"

"Yeah! I heard rumors that you were drafted by the Yankees right out of high school!"

Huey shook his head as accolade after accolade was shot at him by the teenagers, who apparently were part of the Woodcrest High School baseball team. It wasn't because he hated being recognized for this; it was because each time he heard this story, bitter memories elicited about him neglecting Jazmine would immediately be brought forth from his subconscious mind and explode right in front his eyes, only for him to relive every moment of watching Jazmine's tears fall from her face.

"_Huey, please! Just skip one day of practice so we could at least have one date before we graduate!"_

"_Jazmine, don't you see what's at stake here? This is the State Championship we're talking about! If I don't show up at practice, nobody knows what Coach Girardi would do to me! I am NOT going to skip practice just so I could hang out with you!"_

"_W-why are you so cruel to me?" Jazmine's eyes began to flood with tears "It's just a game, Huey! I thought you of all people would have realized that!" And with that, Jazmine ran away…far away to distance herself from the Huey Freeman she no longer knew._

Huey rescued himself before he would relive any more of that soul-shattering memory. He tried to put it back in the back of his mind but everywhere he looked, he stillsaw Jazmine's weeping face. He saw the tears that fell from her face…the tears that were brought on by his own doing. He could never forgive himself for taking her for granted. He didn't want to think that this was why he never saw Jazmine since that fateful summer after graduation…

"Dude, are you okay?" A burly baseball player inquired.

Huey straightened his facial expression to hide the tattered soul behind his tough exterior.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Huey said, his voice soft and noticeably airy.

Huey sidestepped the teenagers to make his way towards the stage. From the podium, he saw a gym filled to the gills with students anxiously awaiting his speech.

"Good afternoon." Huey spoke with a stoic voice, "I'm pretty sure most of you know about me and my perfect game." Huey winced as he spoke those two words, yet the opposite reaction was elicited from the students, who cheered as the words _perfect game_ came out of his mouth.

"Most of you consider it as an inspiration…to achieve the best that you could be no matter what the cost. I on the other hand, consider it as a _failure_." Huey's sharp words cut a dagger through the applause and left it with an audible collective gasp.

"I see that most, if not all of you have goals…goals to be successful…goals that will take precedence over the ones who truly care about you."

Huey's sharp eye swept over the packed bleachers in the gym as he continued.

"That is why I consider it as a failure, not a success. Because I was so worked up about winning the State Championship back in 2007 that I lost sight of who truly cared about me. I abandoned my one true friend. I left her in the dark. I broke a strong bond that was so easily broken. They say love is a strong and dreadful bond that can easily be severed. And so she thought it was a mutual feeling…she eventually abandoned me months later."

Huey's voice was noticeably cracking, and the rest of the student assembly was sitting still in their seats, not making a sound as they listened in on Huey's story.

"And yes, after toiling on the baseball diamond for hours each day, after so much blood, sweat and tears were shed, I pitched the perfect game that you all recognize me for. But at _what cost_?" Huey's voice audibly softened at the last two words.

"At what cost did I pay to gain a golden championship ring, an MVP trophy, and a reputation?" Huey paused, staring into each and every stunned student's eyes. "I lost the only person who knew me better than I could know myself. She knew me like the back of her hand…she understood me, and she provided the only stability in this world I would ever know. And now she's gone."

The students stared wide-eyed at Huey. They knew they were here for an inspirational speech…yet this speech was nothing but.

"And this is why I tell you. Make your goals…strive hard to attain them, but no matter what you do,_ don't _lose sight of the ones who care about you. Because you never know what you've got until it's gone."

The students, still shocked upon receiving Huey's speech, gave a soft applause as Huey backed away from the podium. Henry Burns got up from his seat on the stage and took to the podium.

"Does anybody have any questions?"

Only one student raised their hand. The rest were still too shocked to even formulate a simple question.

"Yes, you there." Henry Burns pointed him out.

"Yeah…um, Mayor Freeman?" The student, who luckily was close to the stage, "Have you heard about the terrorist attacks?"

Another collective audible gasp arose from the student assembly. Huey looked up from his lap to stare into the eyes of this student.

Huey immediately took to the podium once again.

"Yes, I know about the terrorist attacks. All I can tell you about these attacks is that from this day forward, whether you like it or not, your lives are going to change forever from the minute you go home tonight. I want all of you to watch the news tonight…watch it for anything suspicious…this doesn't mean look for terrorists, because more than likely, you're looking for people who _aren't _terrorists at all. Be vigilant and know your rights as a United States citizen."

Huey immediately cut himself short before he could disclose any more information. He may have already spoken too much. For all he knows, there could be secret service agents among them inside the gym…Palein could probably have received word that Huey is a potential threat.

_Stay under the radar._

That was proving harder than he thought…

Huey looked on as the students continued with a pep rally for their softball and baseball teams qualifying for the playoffs. Apparently, baseball was still an integral tradition at Woodcrest High.

"_Not one thing has changed in this school." _Huey thought to himself.

The last time Huey set foot in this gym was for his final Senior activities as a student in Woodcrest High. He remembered picking up tickets to Prom with Jazmine, getting his cap and gown, as well as rehearsing for graduation. Regretfully, Huey realized these were the only times he spent with Jazmine during the final weeks as a High School student.

* * *

_April 27, 2007_

"_One more pitch. One more throw. And it would all be over."_

Huey eased into a pitching stance as he prepared to make the final throw to win Woodcrest High School's third consecutive baseball championship. The flames inside him burned with a rage comparable to a hundred-acre wide brush fire. The sweat poured down his eyebrows. Every muscle inside of him ached as he had worn himself out to keep his perfect game intact. And he never felt so alive before…

The things he sacrificed to make this happen…he severed the only connection that would keep him upright in world of disorder. There was no safety net below to keep him from falling should he slip. Even if he were to finish this perfect game right here, right now, he knew he would regret ever making such a sacrifice.

"_Bases cleared, Huey Freeman preparing to finish the ten-inning Perfect Game. Two outs, three balls and two strikes. A perfect game has never been thrown to finish the State Finals, and this is history you are witnessing!"_

He stared at the catcher's mitt. Sixty feet to the championship…he was so close. He wouldn't have to deal with Coach Girardi for the rest of his life again. He wouldn't have to devote hours each day conditioning himself for baseball. He never liked the sport…but then again he never liked sports at all, and he couldn't wait to throw the final pitch.

Huey's arm swiftly tossed the ball towards his catcher. He made sure to keep his arm speed appear swift and speedy, creating the illusion of a devastating fastball in the eyes of the batter. In reality, the ball traveled slower than Huey's arm speed…it was a surprise changeup, and Huey rarely used changeups.

The batter, believing the ball would arrive earlier than planned, swung so early that by the time the bat was brought around his body, the ball had already evaded the bat by _miles_ and softly landed into the catcher's mitt.

"_Huey Freeman has pitched a perfect game! A PERFECT GAME!"_

Before Huey realized it, he was surrounded by his swarming teammates. Even Darius Johnson, his rival ever since he injured Bryce Perry, lifted Huey into the air as they celebrated the only perfect game in the history of Woodcrest High School.

The president of the Athletic Association, which managed high school sports throughout the state, congratulated Huey personally for his performance. During the awards ceremony immediately after the game, Huey was awarded the MVP trophy and the team trophy for his incredible feat.

"I would like to personally congratulate you, Huey Freeman, on the only Perfect Game thrown not only in your school's history, but in the history of the Maryland State Playoffs."

Immediately after Huey was awarded the two trophies, his teammates and his coaches swarmed around him and lifted Huey high into the air as they celebrated their "threepeat" for three consecutive championships.

Huey couldn't help himself…for the first time in what seemed like an eternity ago, a subtle smile curled on his lips. He looked into the bleachers, searching for Jazmine. It was easy to do, considering how Jazmine's bright green eyes were easier to spot than a lighthouse out at sea.

Their eyes locked. Huey fell into a trance as Jazmine smiled at him, waving as she joined in the celebration amidst the frenzied crowd. He hadn't seen Jazmine this happy since they spent Christmas together. He had to admit, neither of them were in the right mood for each other these days, and he was just glad that he saw Jazmine's face light up one more time.

After Huey's feet met the ground for the first time in fifteen minutes, he calmly walked over to the bleachers. He gave the team trophy to Coach Girardi along the way and gestured for Jazmine to walk towards him. Jazmine's bright amber eyes lit up as she ran down the grandstand and gave Huey a hug so tight that it constricted his lungs.

"Jazmine!" Huey's voice was strained as he struggled for oxygen.

"Huey!" Jazmine replied, tightening her embrace.

Finally, Jazmine took notice of the strange colors that Huey's face was turning and she let go of her Boa Constrictor-esque grasp. She smiled and giggled as Huey gasped for air.

"Jazmine…do you want to go to Prom with me?"

This only served to make Jazmine's bright green eyes light up even brighter than before. She emphatically made small jumps up and down as she tried to formulate a response in her frenzied mind.

"Yes, yes, YES!" Jazmine gave a resounding response.

Huey stopped Jazmine before she could choke Huey into another one of her fatal embraces. He extended his 'Most Valuable Player' trophy to Jazmine in an offer for her to take it.

"No…Huey, I can't take that. You earned that trophy."

"After all the shit I put you through, I think you deserve this more than I do."

Huey's eyes bore into Jazmine's green ones. But instead of taking the trophy, she pushed her lips into Huey's and kissed him. Jazmine's hands found themselves caressing Huey's cheeks as Huey's hands found themselves traveling down Jazmine's sides to her hips. Both of them felt as though they were floating above the ground. It had been months since Huey gave Jazmine this type of attention…and it only seemed to make their bond stronger. They seemed to survive the worst part of their relationship…and it served to strengthen their feelings.

"_This song is for the lovers out there."_

It was only one week since Huey's state championship. He found himself in the middle of the dance floor, sharing a dance with Jazmine. She wore a dress that you could have sworn would have taken the breath right out of your lungs. Her eyes gleamed as she stared into Huey's dark wine colored ones, slowly dancing as the DJ began to player slower songs.

"_Alright Class of 2007! Enjoying your Prom night?"_

The DJ received a resounding response for the soon-to-be graduates of Woodcrest High School.

"_For the rest of this night, I'm gonna slow the music down for all you lovebirds out there."_

"Jazmine?" Huey spoke into her ear.

"Hm?" Jazmine responded as she nestled her chin onto his shoulder.

"Look, I realize I haven't devoted any time to you for the past few months."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I know I haven't been a good boyfriend to you but I'll try to make it up to you."

"Oh, thanks Huey."

"After graduation, we could spend the entire summer together before we go to college. This would be our final summer together and I want to make sure to give you the best summer you've had."

Immediately, Jazmine remembered something she neglected to mention to Huey. It wasn't her fault, considering how hectic Huey's schedule had been.

"Huey, I got accepted."

"To where? Johns Hopkins?"

"No, I got rejected there. I'm going to UCLA."

"Oh." Huey could feel a severe sinking feeling in his chest upon hearing those four letters. "You're going to California." Huey's voice suddenly became soft yet hoarse.

"Yeah…"

Huey's heart fell like a stone. As Jazmine placed her head onto his shoulders, Huey stroked her straight copper-colored hair. He wanted to hold on to her for as long as he could. He wanted to take in her every essence and make sure years from now, he would remember who Jazmine Dubois was. He didn't want to accept the fact that this would be their final summer together. He knew he only had sixteen weeks left with her. He was already counting down the last days of their eight-year old friendship.

Eight years…and it was all quickly boiling down to these last sixteen weeks.

Eight years…it seemed like they've known each other much longer than that.

It seemed like a lifetime.

"Riley! Wake up, it's time for school!"

Huey practically bellowed at his comatose brother lying on the bed. It was the Monday after Prom, and Huey knew Riley still had classes this week.

"Nigga, I know you ain't goin' to school today. I ain't either."

"That's because I'm a senior. I'm finished with all my classes but you, on the other hand aren't. You need to go! You haven't gone in a week!"

"Huey, if you don' shut da fuck up, I'mma beat you upside the head. Nigga, I'm done with school."

"Did you just say you're _done_ with school? You're a sophomore!"

"Nigga, you don' get it do you? I dropped out. I straight up marched to the principal and told him to shove my records up his punk ass. I'm through with school." Riley got out of bed and stood full-length in front of Huey.

Huey slapped his palm onto his forehead. Riley just became another statistic for African American males who drop out before even getting their hands on a high school diploma.

"What malfunctioning part of your mind even _compelled_ you to drop out?" Huey asked with animosity tarnishing his voice.

"Nigga, my mind done told me nuthin. It was Marcus who told me to drop out. Now I can devote more time to my gang so I can build upon my street cred."

Huey's hands found themselves involuntarily pulling at his afro as he failed to keep his outrage in check.

"You…dropped out because you let that _dumbass_ influence you?"

"See, now you just hatin', Huey. Always gonna be a hater, ain't you?"

Before Huey could even compose himself and rethink about what he was about to do, he let his primitive instincts get the better of him and tackled Riley onto the floor.

"This ain't about me _hatin'_, this is about your _life._" Huey yelled over Riley's screaming demands to let him go.

"Dammit, why don' you mind yo own life! I gots mine, and I don't need you tellin' me what I need to do!"

"Do you even _know_ what you're about to get yourself into?" Huey growled into Riley's ear as they wrestled on the floor.

Riley brought a swift knee to Huey's stomach, which impaled him upon brute impact. Huey doubled over as he felt his breath leave him, rendering him into a vulnerable position. Riley grabbed one of his gargantuan textbooks and brought it over his head as he stood over Huey.

"I guess I ain't gonna need this shit no mo."

And with that, Riley brought the thousand-page textbook crashing down on Huey's head, which rendered Huey disoriented. The room began to spin from Huey's perspective as he struggled to get back onto his feet.

Riley brought his guard down for a few seconds, thinking to himself that Huey was too crippled to carry on a fight.

His assumptions proved wrong.

Huey brought a swift roundhouse kick to Riley's head. Stunned, Riley lost his balance and began to fall to the floor. But before Riley's body could meet with the floor, Huey caught Riley and swiftly brought an uppercut crashing into Riley's face. Huey sent Riley crashing against the wall, causing one of Riley's posters to fall to the floor. Huey pressed Riley against the wall as Riley struggled against Huey's python-like grip.

"You're going to march your ass to school and tell the principal that you're not a dropout." Huey's voice was sharp as daggers as he commanded his younger brother.

"Nigga, let go of me." Riley strained as blood began leaking from his nose.

"NO! I'm going to make damn sure you get your life back together. I am absolutely _blindsided_ that you would sacrifice an education to lead a life Dad would not have wanted you to have!"

"Don' you get it? My life _is _the gang! I'm livin' the street life, and that's what I choose. You can't stop me from livin' what kind of life I want!"

"_This _is the life you want? You want to end up like your father? You want to be trapped in a vicious circle of killing in the name of revenge?"

"Nigga yeah! Dem haters gonna die at the hands of Young Reezy!"

"Would you stop calling yourself that? You're just being ignorant when you do that!"

"Damn, that's low, even for _your standards_ Huey. Yo nigga ass can' talk ta Riley Esco like dat."

Huey slammed Riley against the wall again.

"That's why niggas never get anywhere in life. They don't learn the lessons of their fathers. I don't want you going down the same road our father went down."

"Dat nigga is irrelevant. He been dead for eight years, Huey! Eight years and you still can't get over dat nigga!"

"I just don't understand." Huey's emotions took a turn for somber. Immediately, Huey's face went from vociferous rage to a look of melancholy.

"You don't understand how Dad got capped by some gang? Its cause he bitched out at the last minute and committed treason against his homies! Dat's why they hunt him down! I ain't gonna let dat happen. I stick with my gang, Huey. I keeps it real."

"NO!" Huey bellowed into Riley's eardrums. "It's because he joined a gang in the first place! Dad would be so disappointed in you if he saw you like this!"

"Nigga, you think I _care_ if Dad looks down on me? You think I care about what some _punk_ thinks about me?"

Huey's fist crashed into Riley's face immediately after he finished his sentence. A flash of light and a blizzard of stars obscured Riley's vision.

"DON'T even think about talking about _our dad_ like that in front of _my face!_" Huey bellowed.

"Dat's enough nigga." Huey heard a voice emanating from the doorway.

Huey's and Riley's heads whipped to see where this voice came from. Huey's eyes locked onto a burly figure standing in the doorway as he casually walked into the room.

"Who the hell are you?" Huey sharply retorted.

"The name's Marcus."

Huey growled as he could feel a boundless rage brew inside his soul.

"Calm down. Yo Reezy, dis is yo brotha?"

"Yeah, he's cool. Ain't no need to beat him up."

Huey scoffed at the prospect of getting beat up by _Marcus_ of all people.

"So you're the nigga who told my brother to drop out of school?"

"Yeah, you must be one smart nigga." Marcus sardonically remarked.

"I'm going to make you wish you never dragged my brother into a gang." Huey's voice was low enough to ice your veins and chill your bone marrow.

"What da hell is going on up in here?" Granddad ambled in, coughing severely as phlegm invaded his throat.

"Oh, it's Marcus! How you doin', boy?"

"It's all good, gramps." Marcus retorted.

"Granddad! You know this kid?" Huey inquired.

"Mm-hmm. He's Riley's friend."

"C'mon Riley. Let's bounce." Marcus suggested. And with that, Riley and Marcus walked towards the doorway to leave the house. In response, Huey was about to grab Riley's arm but instead was whipped away by Granddad's slap.

"You say anything bad about Riley's friend and I'mma whip yo ass."

"Granddad, Marcus is the reason why Riley's been coming home in scars! Don't you realize that?"

Instead of even acknowledging Huey's allegations, Granddad hacked up another phlegm-filled cough and walked out of the room before he had to endure another one of Huey's absurd insinuations about Riley belonging to a gang.

Huey placed his back against the wall and shut his eyes.

"_Where did I go wrong?"_

The sun was insufferable these days. But that never stopped Huey from taking a stroll through the neighborhood whenever he tried to clear his mind. No matter what the weather, Huey noticed it had a therapeutic effect on his raging nerves whenever he was met with disorder in his life. Eight years of Granddad and Riley's mistakes have left Huey jaded. He just couldn't understand why either of them refused to listen to him.

"_I feel so stupid." _Huey hung his head as he walked through the streets with only his shadow to accompany him. _"I've officially been alienated by my own family." _

As Huey got closer and closer to Hiro's house, he could feel a strange and unbearable feeling…a feeling he hadn't felt since the day before he turned ten years old…that fateful day.

The apprehension began to rattle his nerves…his heart began to race as Huey's unexplainable intuition told him that trouble was brewing within the Otomo household.

Unless he acted quick, Huey would witness another one of his friends join Michael Caesar among the casualties thanks to suicide. Poignant memories of Caesar's suicide note filled his mind as he raced over to the Otomo household.

"_No! I can't let it happen again!"_ Huey's conscience shouted at himself.

Huey ran up to the front door, pounding his fists onto the oak. His heart was all the way up into his neck, choking him as he tried to get anyone's attention to open the door. Finally, after a few tense moments of inaction, the door swung open with a beleaguered Mr. Otomo appearing inside.

"Aye, it Hiro's friend. What you want?"

Before Mr. Otomo could react, Huey swiftly moved past Mr. Otomo and raced up the stairs to Hiro's room. He could never explain his intuition…he hadn't felt this kind of apprehension since the day his parents were murdered. But he knew he couldn't let another one of his friends follow Caesar into the dark.

The first thing Huey saw would haunt his memories of Woodcrest for the rest of his life. The only time he ever saw a suicide attempt was on a television screen, but when you saw one happening right before your eyes, it makes every follicle of your hair on each and every inch of your body stand stiff…

"HIRO! What the hell are you thinking!"

Truly_,_ Huey didn't know anything about Hiro's predicaments…much in the same manner how he never knew anything about Michael Caesar's hidden life. He couldn't even understand why Hiro was standing on a tall chair in his closet with a noose tied around his neck.

"Huey, get the hell out of here unless you want to see me kill myself."

"Listen. You need to get down from there. What are you trying to do?" Huey asked, knowing _something _has to be plaguing Hiro. He knew he hasn't kept in touch with his Japanese friend, but there was always a reason why people would be driven to commit suicide.

"You don't know _half_ of my life." Hiro sullenly retorted.

"Yeah, and I thought I knew all of Caesar's life until he told me about his mother's money problems. By that time, it was already too late."

"And it's too late for you to save me."

"NO! You can't throw your life away like Caesar did, Hiro! You have a lot to live for. You're the valedictorian, for God's sake!"

"ENOUGH! I don't want to hear another word about my grades! They've made me miserable enough already!"

Huey's prophetic intuition immediately picked up on Hiro's actions before he could even execute them. Before Hiro could kick the chair that literally held his life before him, Huey swiftly raced in and caught Hiro from snapping his neck on the noose.

"Tell me. Do you _really_ want to go through with this?" Huey asked as he held the trembling Hiro from falling to his death.

Hiro did not say a word. Huey could tell he was petrified. Instead of waiting for a response, Huey untied the noose around Hiro's neck and placed Hiro firmly on the ground on his two feet. Hiro could not support himself and instead collapsed onto the ground immediately after Huey let him go.

"I…I don't know what came over me."

Huey shook his head when he just realized he _prevented_ the Grim Reaper from taking another one of his friends. The same could not be true for Michael Caesar.

"Why did you try to kill yourself?" Huey asked with a stoic, yet sympathetic voice.

"You wouldn't understand." Hiro mumbled.

"Then make me. There's got to be a reason why you were so driven to take your own life." Huey spoke, keeping his voice low enough to a rumble.

Hiro sighed, shutting his eyes and shaking his head. "All my life, I've been living to please other people. Nobody ever thought about what I wanted to be. Whenever I tell people that I just want to be a DJ, they just scoff and tell me how much of a stupid job that would be for me."

Hiro paused, his face taking on a somber look before continuing.

"I know you've never met my older brother. He was the closest person to me…he was pretty much all I had. He used to be a DJ, and he taught me how to use a turntable. My parents usually frowned upon what my brother was doing, but he did it with a passion. He never let anyone influence or tell him how stupid his job was. And he was truly happy with it. Both of us enjoyed it, but everybody else saw it merely as a 'hobby'."

"What happened to your brother?" Huey inquired, realizing he never saw Hiro's brother in the eight years he had known him.

Hiro's eyes began to fill with tears upon receiving Huey's inquiry.

"He was shot outside a nightclub nine years ago. I was only nine years old when that happened. I don't know why he was shot or who shot him…my parents would never tell me. They tell me to never follow my brother's footsteps, but I looked up to him like a role model. When my parents see turntables, they think of deejaying as a hobby. But I see it as a passion. What they really want from me is to go to Harvard or some other big-named school and become something I would hate to become…like a lawyer or a doctor. Do you know how monotonous that would be? I would rather be up in a nightclub giving people a reason to dance to the beats I hear in my head every so often. But my parents never saw it my way."

"But why would you kill yourself for that?" Huey incredulously asked. It didn't seem logical to him for Hiro to commit suicide just because his parents disapproved of what he wanted to be.

"Because I've been living a life just to impress. My parents see me merely as a trophy, Huey. They think that if I go to an Ivy-League College, then that would give them reason to gloat to their other friends. You would never get it Huey; I'm just a shiny medal to them. They just want a successful child to brag about."

"No, that can't be right, Hiro. I've overheard your mother's conversation in the Christmas party when Jazmine's parents were hosting it. Your parents couldn't just want you to go to Harvard just so they could gloat about it. They've sacrificed a lot for you. They only want to give you a good life with a stable job."

"That's just a ploy, Huey –"

"No, it's NOT a ploy. Listen, I know you want to be a DJ but you can't just commit suicide because nobody likes what you're doing. That's just straight up irrational."

Hiro sighed. "Maybe you're right, Huey."

"Look, I don't want you killing yourself over this. You need to seek for help. You have to lean on somebody when you're not strong, Hiro."

Both Huey and Hiro knew this wasn't healthy. Hiro knew Huey thought everything he tried to do…from hanging himself with a noose to committing suicide in his own house was irrational. But to him everything made sense…maybe he did need help.

He knew he was going to be away for a long, long time.

"Huey! I heard about Hiro…how is he doing?"

Huey sat underneath the oak tree on his favorite hill…the island of comfort and tranquility in the middle of a sea of disorder and mayhem.

Jazmine ran up the hill when she saw Huey sitting under the tree. She heard about Hiro's suicide attempt just earlier and needed to know what had just transpired.

"He's getting sent to a rehabilitation center." Huey somberly said once Jazmine sat by his side. "That means he not going to be at graduation with us. Can't you believe it Jazmine? Caesar's gone, Hiro almost followed him, and Riley's close behind."

"Don't say that, Huey." Jazmine softly spoke.

Huey could only sigh…a warm May breeze caressed through his afro as he contemplated about his life thrown into chaos.

"You're graduating as Valedictorian." Huey told Jazmine. "Hiro relinquished that spot when he left for rehab."

"So that means both of us are going to have to write our speeches?" Jazmine sullenly asked.

Huey just remembered he became the salutatorian immediately when Jazmine inquired about their graduation speeches.

"Yeah…" Huey's voice was soft, yet it was carried by the wind. "Hiro wanted me to tell you good luck on your speech and he'll see you soon, Jazmine."

Whether it was just a hope for the slimmest chances, or if Hiro was just being optimistic, in reality Hiro, Huey and Jazmine knew they wouldn't see him for a long, long time.

"Granddad!"

"Boy, what you runnin yo' mouth off fo'? Can't a nigga get some shuteye?"

Huey shook his head as he stood before his Grandfather in bed. It was just a few days before Graduation and he needed a final answer.

"Are you going to my graduation?" Huey asked, a rare look of hope spread out about his eyes.

Granddad hacked up a severe cough in a futile attempt to remove the abnormally large amount of phlegm clogging his trachea.

"Boy, can't you see how bad of a condition I'm in? Goddamn, I can't even stand up without passin' out onto the floor. You go without me, alright?"

Huey shook his head as the ephemeral smile was wiped clean off his face. Huey's disappointment resonated within his soul…

"_You've never believed in me, and you've never been there for me. What makes me think I'd expect you at my graduation?"_

Huey's thoughts took a turn for the grim as Granddad's health continued to deteriorate as he marched ever so closer to his ultimate defeat in his battle against mesothelioma.

"_Hi, I would like to file a police report for domestic abuse. My husband has been terrorizing us for too long. I just want to make sure my daughter is safe…she has suffered so many times, I just want to be a good mother and make sure she's safe!"_

"_Ma'am, you're going to need to tell the location for your domestic abuser."_

"MOM! Help me!"

"C'mere, you little bitch! I gave you this life, and I gave you the all the shit you have today! You better come here right now so I can beat you upside the head!"

"NO!"

Cindy McPhearson was locked in another raging battle against her father inside ransacked McPhearson household. It looked as if the Allied powers and the Nazis had just engaged in another World War inside the house, yet the McPhearson civil war was just getting underway.

Mr. McPhearson threw another aluminum baseball bat square at Cindy's head, only for her to snatch it out of the air and throw it right back at her father.

"I'm going to Jazzy's house. I've had enough of your bullshit!"

"Oh no, you don't!"

Before Cindy could even get her two feet through the door, Mr. McPhearson grabbed Cindy's hair and pulled her back into the house, causing her to fall flat on her back and slam the back of her head against the marble floor.

Cindy saw a glass ornament hidden beneath a small table beside her. She grabbed the ornament and hastily sent the ornament crashing into Mr. McPhearson's face.

Bloodied, face full of glass, Mr. McPhearson immediately let go of his tight grasp on his daughter and covered his face.

Cindy swiftly brought herself to her feet and ran to the front door…for freedom.

"Cindy? What happened to you?" Jazmine asked when she opened her door for the beat up and pulverized Cindy McPhearson.

"It's my whack-ass dad! He's been beating me again!"

"Wait, what?"

"Jazmine, the scars you been seein' on my face? The bruises and bleeding? That wasn't from falling down the stairs…my dad's been doing this for as long as I could remember!"

"Oh my God! Cindy, why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"Because my dad is the governor! Remember? He could do anything to make sure this doesn't get out to the public! He could get you and your father arrested!"

"Cindy, HE could get arrested! This is domestic abuse!"

"I know, my mother just called the cops on him."

As if to provoke their presence, Jazmine and Cindy saw a group of squad cars racing towards the Dubois household.

"Cindy McPhearson, we are the Federal Administration for Children and Families. We're here to remove you from custody of your father."

"No! I can't go!"

Cindy realized that once these people show up on your doorstep to remove you from child abuse, there is a remote possibility of you ever returning.

"Cindy, this is for your own good. You can't be abused when you're with us. You'll be placed in a better foster family."

"What's happening to my father?"

"We're taking him into custody as we speak. He's most likely going to be impeached as governor or removed from office by other means soon."

Cindy and Jazmine stared into each other's eyes, knowing this would possibly be the last time they would see each other.

"Jazmine…I might be going away for a little while. But I'll see you soon…I promise."

"Cindy…" but before Jazmine could even get another word out, Jazmine received a bear hug from her best friend. Jazmine squeezed back, not ready to admit that Cindy would be gone from her life in a matter of minutes. Cindy was Jazmine's best friend…and at some points of her life, her _only family_. Cindy was like a sister to Jazmine when she had no parents to come home to every night after school. Cindy was the inner light in a dark, lonely and melancholy world Jazmine Dubois was living in.

"Don't worry, Jazzy Fresh. I'll be back." Cindy said, teary-eyed once she let go of her best friend.

"You better keep to your promises." Jazmine forced a smile onto her face.

The next few minutes went by like a blur…Jazmine saw time float by like a surreal painting. In what seemed like life in slow, blurred motion, she saw her best friend climb into the squad car along with two other police agents. She gave a teary-eyed wave goodbye as the squad car sped off down the street.

And that was the last time Jazmine would ever see her best friend.

_We've just received news reports that Governor McPhearson has been accused of committing child abuse against his own eighteen-year old daughter, as well as domestic abuse against his own wife. He is currently awaiting trial in a federal prison without bail. We'll have more updates at the top of the hour as more news reports filter in. It is highly likely that Governor McPhearson will be impeached. _

The lights on the stage were too bright for him to see clearly into the convention center's audience. The tassel kept rubbing against his cheek; his graduation cap was too tight on his afro. His blue graduation robe felt as if he was fitted erroneously.

Yet this was the bittersweet moment you get only once in your high school tenure. The moment where you know four years of hard work had paid off. The moment where people go their separate ways in their life.

Huey took a glance at Jazmine as she gave her final valedictory address to her fellow pupils. Four years have transformed that girl into a woman before Huey's eyes. She had matured, albeit she still remained naïve and innocent at times, but she had matured nonetheless.

Jazmine was the only one who stuck with Huey through the worst and the best of times in the eight years they've known each other. She kept Huey from completely succumbing to jadedness, and she seemed the only person Huey knew who would genuinely appreciate him for who he was.

A shiver ran down his spine as he stared into the sea of four hundred graduates, realizing that Caesar, Hiro and Cindy were missing. Most of his circle of closest friends had been decimated to only one person.

The one person who stuck by his side for eight torturous years. The one person who would no longer be with him by the time the upcoming summer would end.

Jazmine Dubois became teary-eyed as she wrapped up the final sentences in her final speech to the four hundred graduating adolescents.

"_And so, our four-year long journey comes to a close. And I had my friends there by my side during this journey, and I could not thank them enough for helping me get here. It was them who guided me along the way, who helped me up when I was down. They've helped me through the darkest of times, and we've reveled in our brightest of times. We have seen the promise-land, and we have finally made it."_

Jazmine Dubois received a standing ovation at the close of her oration. As per Woodcrest High School tradition, the valedictorian was the first one who threw their graduation cap into the air.

Jazmine tore her cap off her head, her copper-hued hair surprisingly straight for this occasion. And she threw her cap into the air, followed by the rest of the four hundred peers who graduated with her.

As Huey looked past the sea of fallen caps, he realized he had no family in the audience. Riley opting not to go to Huey's graduation for whatever gang activities he was doing on this day, and Granddad being sent to the hospital for his deteriorating health. The most important day of his life so far, and his family wasn't there to share and revel with him on this hallowed day.

_May in Woodcrest always was this beautiful._

Huey and Jazmine spent the rest of their graduation day together under the oak tree on their favorite hill. Eight years have gone by, and this island of tranquility provided stability in this chaotic world for both of them.

May in Woodcrest was a sight to bring anyone to their knees from this perspective. It felt as though you were on top of the world, peering down on the humble city from below on the hill. A blue jay landed on the branch adjacent to Huey, and a yellow butterfly took residence on Jazmine's hair.

"It's always felt like it was me against the world."

Jazmine regarded Huey with a concerned gaze as she picked up what Huey was mumbling to himself about.

"What do you mean?"

Huey brought his gaze to Jazmine's eyes.

"It's just…I've been through so much in only eight years."

Jazmine sat up, keeping her eyes on the reminiscing Huey Freeman sitting next to her.

"I've seen my parents die right before my eyes, I've seen Riley join a gang, and I've seen three of my closest friends vanish in an instant. We've been there for all of us through thick and through thin, but Hiro is now in a rehabilitation center, Cindy was taken away for being abused by her father, and Caesar left this world for the sake of shame. I don't know what the future holds for me, but I know the worst is still not over. I know I'm going to lose Riley and my Granddad in the near future…and I know I'm going to lose you."

Eight years of tragedy had tattered Huey Freeman's soul. Eight years have made a child into a prodigal African-American radical.

"Jazmine, I'm sorry that I haven't given you all of me for the past few months."

"It's okay Huey. Not everything goes to plan. Sometimes you can't control what happens in your life. Just like how I wish mommy and daddy would be here for our graduation…but they haven't been here since Christmas."

And with that, Huey came to the realization that he wasn't the only one suffering in this world. Jazmine was a neglected girl…her parents were not there for her in her times of need, and he didn't help much at all when he couldn't spend much of his time with her either.

"I guess there are forces in this universe we don't yet understand." Huey responded.

Jazmine sat up, coming face to face with Huey.

"Huey…we have this one last summer with each other. Before I go to UCLA, I want to spend the summer with you, and only you. Because I don't know if I will ever see you again."

"No, don't say that Jazmine." Huey sullenly said…he didn't want to admit that he would lose the last and only lifeline he had.

"Jazmine, I want you to know that I would never find another girl like you. We've been through so much together, and it seems like you're the only one who could understand me. You're the only person I know who could put up with my personality. You're the only person who could make me feel whole when everybody else disregards me. If you leave for California, promise me you will come back..."

"Huey, I'm afraid of losing you." Jazmine said, tears already brimming over her eyes.

Jazmine pulled Huey into a tight embrace. Huey hugged her back, keeping his grip tight as if he didn't want this world to take her. He didn't want to let go. He couldn't let the universe take the only person who literally kept him alive for the past eight years. He wanted to hold on to her forever.

_Lean on me, when you're not strong  
And I'll be your friend,  
I'll help you carry on.  
For it won't be long 'til I'm gonna need  
Somebody to lean on._

"Jazmine, I want you to promise that you will come back to Woodcrest every summer, winter, and spring break when you're at UCLA."

_You just call on me brother, if you need a friend  
We all need somebody to lean on  
I just might have a problem that you'll understand  
We all need somebody to lean on._

"Pinky promise?" Jazmine smiled as she extended her pinky to Huey.

"Pinky promise." Huey firmly said, wrapping his pinky around Jazmine's.

Huey sat there with Jazmine for countless hours, taking in her essence, reveling in every second he had with her. He had a tattered soul…he's seen so many traumas in his life…and he needed a shoulder to lean on. He thought it was merely a human emotion to need somebody…and humans could survive on their own. But Jazmine made him rethink about his assumptions. He needed a shoulder to lean on. He desperately needed a friend.

_Sixteen more__ weeks I have with you._

_

* * *

_

Whew...20 pages and two weeks later, I've finally updated...I'm very sorry I kept you waiting for weeks for the update. Hope the chapter was worth the wait and worth the read! But we all need a little vacation, right? Anyway, I don't know why I decided to sign up for 19 credit hours for this semester…I really hope I find the time to keep up with this story. But I'll _really_ try to update each week. Yeah, my schedule is ridiculous as it is, but I promise you that I will finish this story. So I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!

The song used at the end of the chapter is "Lean on Me" by Bill Withers...i'm pretty sure all of you have heard it.

I'd like to thank MissG2020, DaveTheWordsmith and iAnneart01 for your reviews!

Disclaimer: The Boondocks are owned by Aaron McGruder, the Universal Press Syndicate, and Sony Pictures Television. I do not benefit at the expense of the copyright holders of The Boondocks. "Lean on Me" was written by Bill Withers and is produced by Sussex Records. I also do not benefit at the expense of the copyright holders of that song.


	11. Let Go of Me

Let Go of Me

"_Listen, Huey. We're going to be stationed at your city in order to protect Baltimore from terrorists. We'll be there within the week, and we will be inspecting those in your city."_

"_Do you guys have a warrant ?"_

"_Don't you realize we are the FBI? We don't need warrants, and even if we did you have to remember that we are under Martial Law. Do you know what that means, Huey?"_

Huey glared into the fleeting landscape as his limo raced down the highways of Woodcrest. He had his cell phone pressed against his ear as a government agent forced him to give consent to this military occupation. He had just departed from his old high school a few minutes earlier, and already the FBI was hounding him down for his city.

"_It means that we have the right to extract information from anyone without a warrant. Don't even try to wave the Habeas Corpus in our faces, because it doesn't exist anymore. We're giving a week to comply with our demands, or we will arrest you. Have a good day, Mayor Freeman."_

It was starting. The Beginning of the End. Huey could feel it in his gut as it contorted into a strange sensation within him.

"_Why the hell are they taking Baltimore?"_ Huey asked a rhetorical question as his soft voice bounced off the walls of the empty limo.

"Don't worry. They're going to do this to every city in the country. They're going to be stationed all across the United States, taking city by city, one at a time."

Huey's eyes whipped up as the barrier between his cabin and the chauffer's slid down, allowing Huey to see who was driving the limo. His eyebrows stitched into a harsh scowl as he caught the eerily familiar sunglasses in the rearview mirror.

The White Shadow chuckled as he made a left turn towards Huey's old neighborhood.

"You never seem to like my presence, do you?"

"What do you know about this?" Huey asked with animosity infiltrating his demeanor.

"Don't worry. The FBI is just deploying the National Guard into your city. Nothing to worry about, it's just the National Guard. They won't be doing much of anything except patrolling Baltimore."

The White Shadow gave out another chortle as Huey contorted his face into an ice-cold glare as Huey realized Sandra Palein had just confiscated his own city. The one city he was elected to lead, and yet everything was suddenly whipped out from under him.

"The good news: you're still under the radar. Palein doesn't know anything about you…yet."

Huey felt a foreboding sense of apprehension…an icy cold feeling fell over his limbs as his heart jumped into his throat. The military occupation of Baltimore would make it even harder for him to remain under the radar since the National Guard would be stationed practically under every rock in the city. He had to be extra careful from this day forward…

Huey felt a slight vibration on the side of his leg. The feelings of apprehension immediately subsided as he pressed the phone up to his ear yet again.

"Hi Huey." One of Huey's advisors greeted him from the other side of the line. "Just wanted to say that things are looking up for your election to the Senate. You have a slight lead in the polls against Charlie LeMieux."

Amidst everything that has happened today, all the memories that flooded his head since his arrival to Woodcrest, all the "terrorist" attacks that occurred just hours ago, he had already forgotten why he was in Woodcrest in the first place.

Being the pessimist that he is, Huey immediately gave a cold retort to his advisor on the other side of the phone call.

"We still have seven months before election day. Don't get your hopes up." Huey gave a sharp retort before snapping his phone shut.

Huey took notice of a newspaper neatly folded beside him after he pocketed his cell phone.

"Oh. You might want to take a look at that." The White Shadow eyed Huey from the rearview mirror.

"_Riots in California erupt as deployment begins."_ Huey read the headline. He took a glimpse of the image below the headline, which gave him a bone chilling sensation deep inside him.

The image depicted a group of human rights demonstrators engaging in a melee against the National Guard troops deployed in their area just a day before. Huey could see clouds of tear gas throughout the image, mixed with bullets and explosions with dead bodies interspersed about the streets. Other Resistance members were either arrested or clubbed to death on the spot.

The one thing that he thought was strange was how these troops were deployed in California before the "terrorist" attacks on the Air Force bases even occurred. It was as if they already knew that these attacks would happen on this very day…

And then he remembered Jazmine's phone call earlier that morning. The one that his advisor carelessly hung up on without asking Huey if he wanted to take the phone call.

"_Please! I need to speak to Huey Freeman!"_

Now that he thought about it in retrospect, he began to worry about Jazmine. Despite overhearing the phone call hours ago, he could clearly remember the urgency that invaded her usually soft and delicate voice.

"_Oh my god! This can't be happening! Not to Jazmine!"_

It has been twenty years since he saw her in person. Yet his memory of her remains sharp and vivid. His feelings for her still had the ability to raise a brush fire in his heart, equally as or even more intense than it had burned twenty years ago.

"WE HAVE TO GO TO CALIFORNIA!" Huey instantaneously and involuntarily shouted into the White Shadow's ear. Huey found himself inches from the White Shadow's head, gripping his shoulders with a grasp comparable to a boa constrictor.

"Huey, please keep your hands to yourself." The White Shadow calmly said. "I realize your little friend is caught in the middle of trouble, but I'm afraid we won't be able to make it to California."

"_Why?"_ Huey relaxed as he asked his question, which was still was tainted with the same intensity of animosity.

"Keep reading the paper." The White Shadow frowned as he continued to train his focus on the road.

"_Governor Schwarzenburg assassinated. Crisis in California ensues." _Another headline caught Huey's eye.

Immediately, Huey remembered who Schwarzenburg was. He only met the governor of California once, but he would always remember how eccentrically opposed to Sandra Palein he was. Governor Schwarzenburg was probably one of the few people who were extremely vocal about their opposition to Sandra Palein. And as a result of that, Governor Schwarzenburg was terminated by Sandra Palein in the most brutal of assassinations.

"Huey, we cannot go to California because the governor over there was assassinated. Sandra Palein just recently seized the Governor's office today while you were giving a speech to Woodcrest High when the National Guard took over every city in California. She just installed William O'Malley as the governor of California…and just hours after the terrorist attacks, he said he would allow these National Guard troops every right to curb 'terrorism.' It is not safe to go to California, Huey."

"I don't care. We need to go to California! Jazmine needs me!" Huey shouted.

"_Really?" _The White Shadow sharply interjected, "Jazmine didn't seem to need you for the past twenty years. _What makes you think she'll need you now?_"

Huey nearly crushed every bone in his hand by curling it into an intensely tight fist…he wanted to knock the White Shadow's head off his shoulders. But then he realized he was driving his limo; and a limo without a chauffeur would end up…disastrous to say the least.

The White Shadow spoke up, sensing the rage radiating off Huey's body.

"Do you know what Governor O'Malley just granted these troops? He just turned them into living, breathing Terminators! They could shoot you on the spot. They don't observe human rights, Huey! There are riots that you could get killed in, and on top of that, you cannot leave Baltimore because the National Guard troops will be here next. I don't care how much you love your little friend, I _cannot_ allow you to risk your life by going to California of all places."

Huey could feel his anger well up in him as the White Shadow scowled at Huey through the rearview mirror. He could not even imagine what Jazmine could possibly be going through. Was she okay? Was she arrested by the National Guard? Or worse, was she killed by the National Guard?

Huey's anger continued to course through his veins as he realized how callous the White Shadow was being to the situation that Jazmine was in.

"_How could you say that?" _Huey's words slipped from his mouth before he could even think about what he was going to say.

The White Shadow sighed as Huey's soft words struck his eardrum.

"Huey, you've become soft. What happened to the Huey who said it was merely human emotion to need somebody?"

Huey blinked as the White Shadow insinuated about the words he spoke so many decades ago.

"Jazmine happened to me." Huey calmly spoke.

Huey nearly lived twenty years without Jazmine Dubois by his side. He couldn't think he could even live another twenty knowing she was gone forever. He didn't want to face the reality of not seeing her face light up again, her eyes glint in the sunshine, his hands course through her hair…

"Don't worry. She's fine." The White Shadow broke through Huey's thoughts as he ruminated about the last time he ever saw her.

"How do you –?" Huey's question was cut off when the White Shadow broke through Huey's inquisition at midsentence.

"We're here."

Huey's head whipped towards the window. His eyes landed on the eerily familiar hill in the distance…the same hill where he last saw Jazmine…

He could feel his heart fall into a cold, bottomless abyss as his eyes took in every detail of the hill. The afternoon sun shone through the multitude of leaves through the tree as shards of the sun's rays shone into Huey's eyes. Two blue birds nestled into the branches of the tree, and yellow butterflies fluttered near the apex of the hill. Not one single detail had changed…

"Why did you bring me here?" Huey asked the White Shadow as both of them stepped out of the limo.

"You lost something here. Something dear to you…" The White Shadow kept his voice low so only the wind would carry it to Huey's ears.

Indeed, Huey did lose something at the hill. Something he swore he would never be able to retrieve. Something happened here that spun his life around…not for better, but for worse.

* * *

_June 15__th__, 2007_

"Listen Jazmine. I want you to understand clearly what we're doing."

"What? What are you doing?"

The adolescent Jazmine Dubois sat across her mother and her father at the dinner table. Typically, Jazmine would have been elated to have both her parents home, especially since her closest circle of friends have been whittled down to one. But there was something in the eyes of Tom and Sarah Dubois...something she was dreading. The atmosphere around her seemed to weigh down on her. The rain began to pelt angry on the rooftops above her.

She didn't know what was coming next. Nor did she ever want to...

"Jazmine..." Sarah placed her hand on Jazmine's. Her eyes began to brim with tears, her pupils swimming in a sea of agony. She broke down before she could get the dreadful news out.

"We're getting divorced." Tom interjected flatly.

Those three words...so simple and yet so damned.

Jazmine could not even comprehend the three words that seemed to flow into one ear and out the other, leaving a tattered brain in their wake. Three words...so simple to say yet so complex in what damages it had evoked inside the world thrown in turmoil inside the awestruck Jazmine Dubois.

"W-what?" Jazmine's lower lip quivered. Her eyes began to take on a glassy appearance amidst re floodwaters ready to flush out from behind her amber eyes.

"Oh, Jazmine. Please don't cry." Sarah slid herself over to Jazmine's side and brought a reassuring arm around her shoulders in a vain attempt to stem her tears.

"NO!" Jazmine exploded into a wide array of negative emotions, "LET GO OF ME!"

"Jazmine, I know it's hard to understand –"

"No, _Sarah_." Jazmine's voice shook, "I understand very clearly. You've been cheating on daddy. You get what _you deserve_."

Sarah Dubois looked at her own flesh and blood with eyes filled with shock. She has never heard her own daughter address her by her first name nor has she ever seen so much vitriol get spilled from deep within Jazmine's soul.

"_She called me Sarah."_

Jazmine stared with absolute abhorrence at Sarah. She couldn't recognize Sarah as her mother…not now, not ever.

Tom cleared his throat. Jazmine and Sarah whipped their heads around to see Tom trying to get both of their attention.

"Um. Jazmine – honey? Sarah's not the only one guilty of infidelity."

"_What?"_ Jazmine's eyes grew large. Tears were already spilling over the brim.

"Um, well you see…Sarah and I actually decided we go our separate ways years ago. We only wanted to stay together for your sake. But we've been falling out of our relationship for so many years that I don't think we'll be able to keep this thing going. So we're going to divorce by July."

"I…can't believe this." Jazmine said.

She finally knew why she was alone in the house for weeks at a time. Her world continued to shatter before her eyes. Her heart took on a heavy burden. Her spirit seemed to weigh heavier than the body that contained it. Jazmine was ready to collapse on the spot and just cry until blood leaked from her eyes. But she managed to contain it…

"So," Tom continued, not noticing the tumultuous tempest raging concealed within Jazmine's soft exterior. "Jazmine, you probably know Clint Rodham…the Senator from New York? Sarah will live with him after the divorce. As for I, I've been courting with a realtor from Philadelphia. Her name is Hillary Lewinsky. I'll be living with her in Philadelphia after the divorce."

Tom looked at Jazmine, shocked at how she was composing herself. She was calm. Her face was no longer flowing with tears. Her lips were no longer contorted into a sad expression. Jazmine was still as stone.

Until…

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TWO! I HATE YOU BOTH!"

"Jazmine, I know you don't mean any of those words."

Sarah approached her explosive daughter with care, embracing her with a soft hug to stop Jazmine from deteriorating.

It was a vain attempt.

"NO! LET…GO…OF…ME!" Jazmine exclaimed before lowering her voice to a menacing growl, "_don't you dare touch me!"_

"Please Jazmine. Just stop. You're not making this any easier."

"You _expect_ me to make this easy on you two? You go out and cheat on each other for the past five years without telling me? And then you abandon me, leaving me alone in the house with no-one to come home to after a shitty day at school? And now you tell me that you both are _divorcing_! How the _hell_ do you expect me to make this easy on you!"

Without even giving any though about the consequences of what she's about to do, Jazmine threw her knife at Tom's face and her plate at Sarah, which was still half covered in food.

Luckily, the knife struck Tom's face from the handle. The sharp end never touched any flesh. As for Sarah, she got the brunt of the contents of the plate, splattering her clothes with food and staining it with juices from the steak. The plate clattered to the floor, exploding into a million pieces.

Jazmine was not satisfied.

Without giving any thought again, she impulsively stood up and lifted the table on its side. The pots and containers on the table splattered to the floor, tarnishing the elaborate and elegant rug underneath the table. Tom stood up before the table collapsed onto its side. The glass tabletop shattered into pieces as it made impact with the floor with brute force.

Jazmine inhaled and exhaled deeply, her bosom rising and falling rhythmically as she looked around the dining room for any more items to potentially throw at the two awestruck monsters standing in front of her.

Neither Tom nor Sarah wanted to get within ten feet of their own volatile daughter.

"Jazmine. Please. Stop…I don't want to see you like this." Sarah softly spoke.

"_You brought this unto yourself." _Jazmine gave a menacing growl.

Her amber eyes were no longer bright and cheery as they always were. They were sharp and demonic. They continued to stare from Tom to Sarah and vice versa.

"Jazmine…I'm very sorry. I apologize. But what's done is done. There's no point in crying over spilled milk." Tom tried to make an appeal to his daughter "Listen. I know you've been through a lot for the past five years. But I don't want to make this harder than it already is. So please, lay your armor down. I just want you to know that we've always loved you. And we will keep loving you even after we divorce."

The tears returned to Jazmine's floodgates in her eyes, wrenching them wide open with full force, stronger than the storm surge of a hurricane bearing down on New Orleans.

Jazmine collapsed to the floor. She could see no end to this. No end to the floodwaters rushing through her eyes. No end to the sorrow that has inhabited her lifestyle for five years. No end to the eternal storm cloud that continuously hovered over her head. It was a miracle that she even kept her spirits high in the bleakest of times. She was done. Done with being happy. Done with being cheery. She was done being Jazmine Dubois.

"Oh, honey." Both Tom and Sarah made their way to Jazmine and offered their sobbing daughter some comfort by embracing her.

"I love you…but I don't know if you love me." Jazmine choked between her sobs.

"We do love you." Tom said, patting Jazmine's back. "You're our only flesh and blood. How could we not appreciate that?"

That did it. Jazmine finally opened up and accepted both her parents' reassurance. She hugged back, albeit with a cautious stance, but she gave a returning embrace nonetheless.

Jazmine sat there with her two parents, trying to come to terms with the divorce. Yet she could never accept the fact. She tried to stem the relentless tears rushing through her eyes. Yet she could never close the floodgates.

"Who am I staying with?" Jazmine asked between her deep sobs.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Sarah asked.

"I mean…am I going to stay with you or daddy?"

Both Tom and Sarah fell silent.

"What? What's wrong?" Jazmine croaked.

"Um…I really don't want to say this." Tom paused, "Jazmine. I can't take you with me. Hillary doesn't want another child in her new family."

"And Clint doesn't want you around either. He doesn't want to shoulder the burden of another child."

The cruelty shattered Jazmine's already scarred heart. The words…they were sharp…and they were poison tipped. Her spirit was dying slowly from the poison injected by those harsh words.

It seemed like someone took thousands of icy daggers and stuck them into her chest.

Her soul…it was bleeding.

Jazmine couldn't take it anymore. Her tolerance could barely withstand the brimming emotions. She stood up and ran for the door. She wrenched it open and ran outside into the pouring rain. The torrent of icy cold raindrops pelted her. But it didn't matter. She didn't feel any better than the sorrowful rainclouds above her.

She ran away. She wanted to run away from her parents. She wanted to run away from that blasphemous house.

She wanted to run away from herself.

Huey Freeman stood at the apex of the small hill overlooking the town of Woodcrest below. He closed his eyes, slowly inhaling the fresh warm breeze that caressed his face as it ruffled through his afro and through the leaves of the overgrown oak tree behind him.

For whatever reasons that his life was thrown in turmoil, Huey Freeman could always turn to the hill as a place of serenity. It always seemed that this was the only place he could come to relax. He had no other place to turn to; his family consistently ostracized him. He had no other friends to vent to…they left Woodcrest a long time ago. He only had Jazmine.

_Nobody's here but me._

It seemed as if Jazmine and Huey spoke that aloud simultaneously.

Suddenly, there was a disturbance in the calm, serene atmosphere. Huey opened his right eye as he listened to the sobs creeping up the hill.

"Huey!"

Huey turned around to see a shattered Jazmine climbing up the hill.

"Huey. You're right. You're definitely right." Jazmine's voice broke as she struggled to keep the floodwaters at bay.

"What?" Huey asked, dumbfounded about what he could be right.

"You're right about what you said about life. Remember what you said three years ago?"

"Um…" Huey narrowed his eyes at Jazmine, not being able to recollect something he said long ago.

"You told me that you can be kind to life all I you want, but it will only come back to bite you in the ass." Jazmine interjected, not waiting for Huey to say it himself.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Huey, my parents are divorcing. And neither of them want me to come with them when they separate."

Jazmine approached Huey and placed her chin on Huey's shoulder.

"I can't believe that, Jazmine. Where are you going?"

"The hell if I know. But I'm going to UCLA no matter what so quite frankly, I don't give a damn."

Huey kept his mouth shut. He observed Jazmine through critical eyes; he could clearly see Jazmine's exposed and scarred heart right in front of him. She looked devastated.

He could not remember Jazmine looking like this in the eight years that he had known her.

"You know Huey. You're right about life. I'm tired of being optimistic. I'm just so tired of being me. I don't know…it's just hard to maintain a cheery and upbeat attitude when all this _shit_ is hitting the fan."

Jazmine's harsh words struck something in Huey. It lifted every hair follicle on his skin. It sent shivers down his spine.

He never saw Jazmine speak like this. He never saw Jazmine act like this. And he sure as hell never saw Jazmine so jaded. It was like the old Jazmine was stabbed a thousand times in the chest by poison-tipped daggers.

Figuratively and literally, that could not be any more valid. Old Jazmine was, in fact, stabbed to death by icy daggers.

"Jazmine, look at yourself. Do you hear yourself talking?"

"I _don't _give a _damn_, Huey!" Jazmine exclaimed. "I'm tired of this bullshit."

"Jazmine, stop. You're not like this. Look, we've all been through our share of troubles. But what's done is done. All we can do is look for brighter days." Huey tried to console Jazmine as brought an arm around her shoulders.

It's a weird feeling you get when the roles are reversed. Jazmine was never the pessimistic one. And Huey was never the optimistic one. But you know something has definitely gone awry when Jazmine of all people become this jaded and this distraught.

"There are no brighter days." Jazmine softly spoke, "I'm an orphan. I have no parents."

Jazmine sniffled, burying her head deeper into Huey's chest.

"Jazmine," Huey softly spoke, making a vain attempt to find words to console the devastated Jazmine.

"Don't." Jazmine suggested, "you'll only make it worse."

Huey nodded, embracing Jazmine. He then took her by the hand and led her to the oak tree, gesturing for her to sit down.

"I can't believe this…this situation that we're put in." Jazmine spoke once she sat next to Huey, pressing her shoulder against his.

Huey's eyes moved skyward, staring into the heavens above him as his ears picked up every word Jazmine spoke.

"I mean, look how our lives have just turned for the worse in just less than month. We've lost our friends, I'm going to lose my parents, you're going to lose your family, and worst of all, _we're going to lose each other._"

Jazmine pressed her head against Huey's shoulder, watching the clouds float by against the brightly lit velvet blue sky. Huey tightly held Jazmine. She didn't mind…she wanted to stay with Huey for as long as possible. She wanted Huey's reassuring and secure touch to stay with her forever. And if the sun decided to set in the west, she wouldn't go back home. She couldn't go there anymore. She was no longer welcome. She wanted to sleep with Huey tonight.

After all…Huey was all she had.

"_Are there any other properties that Tom and Sarah have to divide?"_

Jazmine Dubois stoically sat in the gallery of the elegant courtroom in Baltimore as Tom and Sarah finalized their divorce. Cold and stone-faced, Jazmine's emotions continued to rage within her. The normally serene ocean inside her was now boiling and fuming, raging with a tempest comparable to a typhoon. Yet she did not display her emotions on her tough edifice. She was done…she was tired of displaying her emotions. Because nobody would listen to her.

"_I believe that would be all the properties. They have all been equally divided."_

"_What about your house?"_

"_We're planning to sell the house and, divide the money amongst ourselves in half, and go our separate ways."_

Jazmine already knew of her parents' plans. They've already sold everything they own. All the furniture. All their belongings. Gone. All the memories were converted to cold hard cash. And it was all divided between Tom and Sarah. And even if there were any belongings left in the house, it would have been put in moving boxes and stacked in various places around the Dubois residence, ready to move to the Rodham or the Lewinsky household.

What would happen to the memories? Would they be boxed up as well? No. They would be burned. They would be forgotten with the smoke it burns up into.

Nothing would be salvaged. Jazmine had to sell most of her belongings too. After all, she had no idea where she was going after this. It was necessary for her to get money for her pocket. She was torn at the seams when she had to sell everything, but it was necessary before she was left on her own. She couldn't handle it…but she was able to keep the car Huey gave to her. She was able to keep the locket that kept her kiss with Huey under the mistletoe in her memory. She was even able to keep the autobiography of Huey P. Newton with her. Huey once said that was the very book that his father gave to him the day he died…

So she couldn't just sell those. They were too close to her heart for her to give up. They represented the seemingly unbreakable bond shared between him and her.

"_Who will have custody of the daughter, Jazmine Dubois?"_

"_Neither of us will claim custody, your honor."_

A solitary tear rolled down the otherwise emotionless face of Jazmine Dubois.

It was building.

The tension…the terror…it was all beginning to weigh on her soul. Her spirits were weighed down too much for her to maintain her typical cheery demeanor.

The rage and the anger. The tempest brewed in her soul. A typhoon was bearing down on her. She was consumed in her own rage. She couldn't control it anymore. There was no point in observing judicial etiquette in the District court. She just wanted all of this to be over.

"You've betrayed me…"

The judge looked up from writing on his papers. He stared at the daughter of Tom and Sarah Dubois…the one daughter they have opted to give up. It seemed so inhuman to him for these two parents to just abandon their own daughter.

"I believe your daughter has a few words to say to the court?"

Jazmine was caught in the middle of two wrongs. Yet she was merely trying to do right. Her two parents have committed infidelity…worse, it was mutual. She tried to keep her family together for the past few weeks. Her words fell on deaf ears.

"No. _Fuck your court._ I have nothing to say." Jazmine's sharp eyes fell from looking at the judge. She settled on staring at her lap.

"I see." The judge said, taken aback by Jazmine's animosity and lack of respect for the court.

"You do realize that once both of you give up custody of Jazmine Dubois, your only child will become an orphan?"

"We realize this, your honor. That is why we designated her aunt in California to be her caretaker."

"Has her aunt in California agreed to this?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, she has."

"Any reason why you're shipping her off to California?"

"Well, she's going to UCLA. So we thought her aunt would give her a place to live while she studies there."

"Well then. I want you to fill out a change of custody form naming her as Jazmine Dubois' new caretaker. Otherwise she will become an orphan within thirty days of your divorce. Do you understand?"

"We do."

"Good. Report back to me to finalize the divorce by August 27th, 2007. You must have those change of custody forms done by then. Court adjourned." The judge brought the gavel down against the wooden block to signify the adjournment.

Tom offered his hand to help Jazmine to her feet. But instead of taking it, Jazmine swatted Tom's hand away and got up from her seat herself, walking through the court doors nonchalantly.

July days were brutal in Baltimore. The sun's oppressive rays bore down on Jazmine's soft skin. Worse, she was forced to share the sidewalk with her former parents.

"_How could you do this to me?"_ Jazmine gave a sharp inquiry at Tom and Sarah.

"Jazmine, we've already gone over this millions of times."

"You can't just abruptly leave me! I thought you guys would be there for me through the worst of times and the best of times! And now you just want to throw me away to some person in California I don't even know? I don't know. This is just too much for me…"

"Jazmine, I know this is hard for you."

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT IT'S HARD FOR ME!"

"Hey! Calm down!" Tom shouted at Jazmine, grabbing her by the shoulders.

A few shocked bystanders sidestepped the Dubois family as they abruptly halted walking on the sidewalk.

"I know it's hard for you! But it's even harder for me! Do you _think_ I wanted to leave you on purpose? No! But I have _no choice _Jazmine! _We _have no choice! Don't give us any shit and there won't be any shit. Do you understand?"

Tom's sharp words cut through Jazmine like a swift sword. It slashed her into two. Her already injured heart was put on the edge…it was barely hanging on for life.

"I can't believe this" Jazmine croaked as another tear fell from her eyes. "I thought you loved me. I thought you would be there for me forever. You were my family."

"Oh, for God's sake, Jazmine! Cut the little girl attitude out! I'm already stressed beyond my boiling point and I don't need to deal with your emotions on top of this! Just shut up!"

She couldn't believe it. Where were the kind and loving Tom and Sarah she once knew? Where were their comforting embraces when she so desperately needed them?

And most of all, _where was her family_?

She now knew what it felt to be a Huey Freeman. She knew what it felt like to be ostracized and outlawed. She knew what it felt like to constantly have your words fall on ignorant and deaf ears.

These days, she always seemed to have a downcast attitude. She now understood why Huey was so pessimistic all the time. And he has already been dealing with this feeling for the past eight years. She's only had the taste in her mouth for three weeks.

For the past three weeks, Jazmine would wake up and look in the mirror. She didn't see herself. She saw a girl who was devastated. A girl who was abandoned by her only family. She had no friends, no nothing. She only had herself.

And she could never recognize the girl in the mirror.

"Listen, Jazmine." Sarah Dubois calmly spoke into her daughter's ear.

"_What?" _Jazmine sharply retorted.

"Our divorce will be finalized on August 26th. On that day, we'll be moving out of the house. We've bought you a plane ticket to Los Angeles for August 27th. So you'll be in the house for the night before, will you be okay?"

"Of course. Why shouldn't I? After all, I have been living by myself for most of my life already."

Sarah simply nodded her head.

"Anyway, just wanted you to know that your last day in Woodcrest is August 27th. You might want to say goodbye to Huey."

"_No…I don't want to say goodbye. I can't…"_ Jazmine confined her thoughts to herself.

_I don't want to say goodbye to you…_

Jazmine sat alone in her room for the rest of the day. She confined herself to the four empty walls of her room. Nothing was left except a few moving boxes containing what little was left of her belongings and her memories.

The whole day, she sat neatly on the edge of her bed. Her hands folded neatly in her lap. Her now pale and hollow amber eyes were constantly staring outside her window. She watched the sun move across the sky. She watched the shadows creep into her room when the sun fell below the trees on the horizon. She watched a raven perch on her window, mocking her sorrow. She didn't care. She just didn't care anymore.

"H-H-Huey?" Jazmine struggled to speak into her phone.

"Yeah?" she heard his voice through the other side of the phone call.

"Can we go on a date? Please?"

"Sure, anytime. When and where?"

"August 27th. Meet me at the top of the hill."

"Alright."

"H-Huey? Promise me you'll meet me there."

"I promise. I pinky promise, Jazmine."

For the first time in weeks, a small smile crept onto her lips. A rarity nowadays…and this was _Jazmine Dubois_ we're talking about.

"Good. Remember, you can't break a pinky promise."

"Yeah I know Jazmine. Look, are you okay? I haven't heard from you for weeks…and it sounds like you've been crying."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll tell you everything on August 27th, okay?"

Jazmine collapsed onto her bed and dropped her phone onto the floor. The setting sun shone blood red rays into her room, illuminating her face in strange late-afternoon colors. Jazmine neglected to mention about her parents' divorce to Huey. Nor did she ever tell him that her last day in Woodcrest was on that late August day…the day before his birthday.

"_Some birthday gift."_ Jazmine mumbled sullenly.

As darkness continued to creep into her room, Jazmine crawled out of bed and decided to take a tour of her empty house. The boxes stacked in the corners of the house, leaving it bare and cold. Neither Tom nor Sarah were home…they would rather avoid their volatile daughter. The feeling was mutual. Jazmine didn't want to deal with them either.

As she slowly placed a foot in front of the other, an empty sensation of loneliness fell upon her. It left a crushing feeling in her chest where her heart was supposed to be. She continued to pass by moving boxes, addressed to either New York or Philadelphia. She tried to keep moving her feet one in front of the other, but somewhere deep within her house, she collapsed in front of a tall stack of boxes. She lost her way through her own house. It looked foreign. She couldn't recognize it anymore. She collapsed to the floor and sobbed.

She was alone. All her friends: gone with the wind. All her family; deserted her in the middle of a barren wasteland of her life. Cindy McPhearson, her best friend who used to share this house with her for the past five years was no longer here to comfort her after these darkest days. She could no longer recognize what happened to the old Tom and Sarah Dubois. They died a long time ago. She no longer knew who she was. The old Jazmine Dubois died along with her parents.

Jazmine felt a strong, insufferable emotional pain erupt in her chest. She let out a painful, agonizing cry as she writhed against the ice-cold floor. But nobody would hear it. Nobody was there for her…she could only comfort herself; something she became terrible at doing. She was well versed at comforting other people. She always gave other people all of her. But now she had nothing left to give.

As Jazmine Dubois suffered her first emotional breakdown in her life, she finally came to the cold, unforgiving realization:

She was alone.

_Let go of me._

_

* * *

_

Once again, i'm very sorry about the late update. I know I didn't keep to my promise about updating weekly...in fact, this would be my first update since _three_ weeks ago. So don't stone me. Anyways, I have a feeling this chapter was very, very, _very_ short. Compared to the rest of the chapters, this had considerably fewer scenes in it. Considering this has only 6000 words and change, this would probably be the shortest chapter in this story. Once again, sorry i've kept you waiting, but honestly i'll be forced to update infrequently nowadays.

I'd like to thank MissG2020, iAnneart01 and DaveTheWordsmith for your reviews! And MissG2020, i'm truly sorry for what happened to your bf. My condolences...I hope he's leading a better life in the United States now.

Disclaimer: The Boondocks are owned by Aaron McGruder, the Universal Press Syndicate, and Sony Pictures Television. I do not benefit at the expense of the copyright holders of The Boondocks.


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